Government has moved to try and reduce the numbers of people living in abject squalor in the heart of wealthy Bermuda.

Bermuda's rooming houses will now fall under tighter health regulations as Senate passed the Bermuda Housing Amendment Act yesterday.

Government Senator Calvin Smith said the legislation was introduced in order to redefine the concept of "fit for human habitation".

The concept had to be expanded to include multiple dwelling units, Sen. Smith said, after Government received numerous complaints about the state of some of the Island's rooming houses.

Prior to the amendment, rooming houses went unregulated and Sen. Smith said there were complaints that some of these facilities had no running water, faulty electricity, unfinished construction work, rotting wood and windows which could not be opened.

Homes which are not up to standard can now be closed down by health inspectors and declared unfit for human habitation.

With minimum requirements in place - including structural stability, adequate water supply, proper waste disposal - "all people should live in appropriate, safe and healthy accommodations", said Sen. Smith.

Senators were united in welcoming the legislation although some wondered whether the new act might be misused by unscrupulous landlords or tenants.

UBP Senator Kim Swan suggested that seniors who are also landlords are often "land rich but cash poor" and might have ongoing repairs or renovations.

But Senator Michael Scott pointed out that there are no fines attached to the new legislation and the relationships between tenants and landlords will continue to be of a contractual nature.

Independent Senator Jeannette Cannonier said it was vital Government moved to help people "living in substandard squalor because there is no other place they can afford" to "live with some type of dignity."

Sen. Cannonier said she had heard in some cases the only cooking facilities available are kerosene flames and that bathing had to be done in buckets of water.