The Bermuda Housing Corporation is gearing up to apply for special development orders to build on some of its 22 acres in land holdings.

Manager Vance Campbell explained that the quango would be applying to build on land not zoned for development and said he hoped that the application to the Planning Department would be lodged next month.

?We?re going to test the waters on this with certain properties and see where it goes from there. The request would be for us to get permission to build,? he said.

About half of BHC?s land holdings are involved in the initial application. If it is successful, BHC may apply for permission to build on the rest.

And if unsuccessful, they could submit alternative properties for consideration.

Under current guidelines, BHC could build an additional 440 units of housing on its 22 acres.

Much of the property involved in the initial application is in the eastern and central parts of the Island.

Mr. Campbell said the application was only strictly concerned with permission to build and no designs had been submitted. He noted that Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent would have the final say.

?Before we proceed on anything like this here we would require the approval of the Minister and obviously for him it?s a last resort, but we are exploring every possible avenue available to us to expedite the availability of housing either through construction or private sector involvement.?

Mr. DeVent?s policy as a conservationist is to build on properties which have already been developed.

But his plans to add 34 housing units at the Prospect housing complex led to a political row and resistance from residents which forced efforts to seek a compromise.