The People's Coalition for Affordable Housing describe the housing crisis as "the biggest social issue facing Bermuda", impacting on families and creating countless social problems.

But its chairperson, Rosemarie Pedro, and vice chairperson Coreen Tucker believes it is a problem that can be solved, broad and complex as it is.

The Coalition's mission is to serve the community by operating as a watchdog agency, voicing our concern on issues relating to housing'.

In a recent drive to raise awareness with a 'Housing Awareness Event', the Coalition stated: "As you must know, housing in Bermuda has reached, what we believe to be, monumental crisis proportions.

"Although we live in times of unprecedented prosperity, the data on the cost of housing (rental and owner occupied) shows that most homes are unaffordable for the average Bermudian."

Many locals are struggling to make ends meet with the high rents and rising costs of houses. The Coalition advocates tackling the high prices by increasing supply.

"You have the financial institutes who are in a position to make money, the real estate agents who are in a position to make money and your home owners who are in a position to make money," said Ms Pedro.

"It's fine and dandy for a lot of people to say it's okay 'they need to work to get a piece of the rock' or 'they have to stop blaming Government for everything'. But we assign Government to control and to make feasible living conditions that are conducive to our wages, our circumstances.

"If we don't, and everybody else controls it, then it will never reflect fairly and the average Bermudian will not be dealt with fairly because the average person who is making money is not concerned about the other people who aren't."

Added Ms Pedro: "The last statistic from the census was that there were 1,700 habitable vacant apartments, so we have a lot of people on this Island living in luxury.

"For them to not appreciate that our Island is in a crisis and not be willing to be part of the solution makes people like us see them as part of the problem."

Mrs. Tucker stressed there are some home owners out there who are struggling with maintenance costs after meeting their mortgage payments.

"You drive across any area and you will see so many houses where affordability has to be in question because they haven't painted it, the roof is black, the windows are in need of repair and the yard is overgrown," she stated.

It's because it is an elderly person who doesn't have much income or there are two or three wage earners living in the house and still can't afford to take care of the maintenance of the property.

"They cannot maintain it to the standard that it needs to be maintained. We have people living in homes where the electrical and plumbing needs upgrading and they wouldn't touch it with a ten-foot pole because the market is so expensive,"

Real estate agents are dealing with a seller's market where the demand far exceeds the supply and home sellers are often getting the asking price for their homes. Even construction firms have the luxury of submitting 'take it or leave it' quotes, knowing there isn't a shortage of work.

"People (construction workers) are demanding ridiculous amounts of money now and getting it," said Mrs. Tucker.

Stated Ms Pedro: "That's the same problem with our financial institutions, it's so booming that you either take it or leave it. If we went through a recession I guarantee they would look differently at how they finance things.

"Everybody is not trying to be a part of the solution. Everybody has to come together and try to work out a solution so that our social structure can be mended in some way.

"Look at the social issues that are going on just because of these issues. Mind you, it doesn't affect the high end people because they are all tucked away in their nice houses, but what happens when it starts to affect them, because it will."

Chairperson since the Coalition was formed five years ago, Ms. Pedro says the types of people affected by housing are diverse.

"When we first started it was for single parents who was suffering but now it's married couples who can't find housing," she explained. "And that's what happens, every bad situation grows unless it is solved. I know of a professional couple who own their own business, a married couple with two children, and the wife has two jobs. They recently had to move out and it took them months to find somewhere and now they are paying $3,000 a month because that is all they can find. They are struggling and said to me 'where can I go for some financial release?'."

She added: "That's when you start to see that it affects everybody. It doesn't matter who you are anymore."

Often outspoken on housing matters, Ms Pedro feels Government can do more to solve the housing crisis. In fact the Coalition seeks the public's support as they try to get across the magnitude of the problem. They believe the numbers that Government have are not an accurate reflection simply because Bermudians are proud people and may be reluctant to ask for help.

They ask the following questions to the public:

Are you being forced to live in overcrowded or substandard conditions?

Are you unable to find accommodation for the amount of rent you can afford to pay?

Are you paying more than half your wages on rent?

Does it take more than one income to pay your rent?

Are you receiving housing allowance or social assistance and still can't make ends meet?

Do you know someone who needs help paying their rent who are not currently getting help from Government?

Said Ms. Pedro: "When you talk about people who go to court because they have fallen behind on their rent, once a person has fallen the first month they will never catch up. Rents are too high and they are not making enough money to pay any back rent. That's a simple fact.

"We're not saying that Government is not trying their hardest to accommodate the crisis, I would never say they are not. I know Raymonde Dill (Bermuda Housing Corporation manager), we've spoken many times and I know a lot of their plans, but I bet you if you asked him are their numbers decreasing I think he'll tell you no. Every time they house 50 people there are 50 more coming in to apply.

"I'm not saying they are not working overtime to try to accommodate this problem, but I think it's bigger than that. And anyone who realistically looks at it will say the same thing, that it's bigger than they are. It's the biggest social issue in Bermuda."

Both Ms Pedro and Mrs. Tucker wonder why the minimum purchase price for non-Bermudians hasn't increased to match the rising cost of homes.

"We can no longer go and find a house in the $200,000 and $300,000 market, we have to start at looking at $500,000 and $600,000," Mrs. Tucker stressed. "And at $500,000 you are only looking at a two-bedroom house!"

Added Ms. Pedro: "Real estate has become so valuable here that it has become a money making extortion game, that's what it is."

The People's Coalition for Affordable Housing is offering the following solutions to the housing crisis:

Build cohousing.

Revamp the criteria used for assessing social assistance.

Combine housing allowance and social assistance and counselling services under one roof.

Collaborate with focus groups when discussing policy.

"Overall Government has not addressed an emergency housing situation here on this Island - and it is desperately needed," said Mrs. Tucker.

"To me this Government has taken over what the UBP had put in place and hasn't gone that much further with it."

Said the Coalition's chairperson: "Their open door policy has also changed, in the way they respond and act to people such as myself who they know are out there for the public's interest."

"...So that we can inform those who get in contact with us," Mrs. Tucker stressed.

Minister Nelson Bascome's suggested this week that young people should forsake the expensive car and stay at home longer and save towards buying a house. But both Ms. Pedro and Mrs. Tucker take a different view.

"Nelson would have to show me the statistics that prove that all these young folks are out there buying $40,000 cars," said Mrs. Tucker.

"What I see is a parent may have bought a Peugeot and they (children) are driving it."

Added Ms. Pedro: "When a person goes out on their own they learn to be responsible. People want to live, so why are we telling our children that they cannot grow up, that they cannot live the life that we enjoyed."