There is a plan for affordable housing, insisted Works and Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent last week. Well, kind of. Not quite. Soon come.

Housing advocates, and the Minister, are full of ideas, however. Yesterday Corinne Tucker, spokesperson for the Coalition for Affordable Housing said she could house 1,000 people tomorrow ? if she had Mr. DeVent?s job.

?Today I believe I really am the fall guy because after today?s Budget I think I?ve fallen in love with the (Finance) Minister,? Mr. DeVent said at Friday?s Budget Day press conference. ?I definitely have a plan and the fact that I have been told that I?ve got some more money to facilitate that plan, I?m very excited today and I am looking forward to working as quickly as possible with members of the Housing Corporation to get my plan on the way.?

Asked for an outline of the plan he said: ?There are quite a few initiatives that I?m considering. One of the things I am particularly keen to see is for us to begin to deal with the derelict houses.

?And many things have come out of that ? I?ve been approached by quite a few individuals in the community ? older, retired contractors who have come to me to offer their assistance without really looking to get top dollar. And that?s something I?d like to stress because this is a problem that we are all going to have to grapple with.

?So again, it?s ?what can you do to help me?. These people have come forward and I?m looking forward to finalising, and getting a plan together, so I can use these people who have offered their assistance.?

Asked to define affordable housing, the Minister said: ?That?s not so simple. Affordable means different things to different people... It has to be based on what people earn.?

He said it was too difficult to say what percentage of earnings would be considered affordable.

?I think the Government?s focus on the social agenda is going to begin to clarify this, because there are people in this country who can?t afford a certain price level. Because of certain challenges or problems that they face they?re not using their money in the best way possible.?

But housing critics said if they had the power they could put housing initiatives in place immediately.

?If they made me Housing Minister I would put 1,000 people in homes today and I?d probably still just be housing my own relatives,? said Ms Tucker yesterday.

She said she would tax landlords who kept their homes empty and put the money into an affordable housing fund, move people with emergency housing needs into the former Club Med property ? provided there are no plans for it in the next six months ? and rezone Southside to allow homeowners there to build additional units.

She would also make full use of empty buildings at the former baselands.

?They haven?t decided how big a golf course is going to go on the baselands, so the houses are sitting there going derelict. To me it?s how much do you value your people,? she said.

The housing crisis is contributing to some very unhealthy trends in the community, she added, like incest and ?toxic relationships? when people who no longer care for each other are forced to share a home.

?Every day we see boundaries being broken,? she continued. ?We see toxic relationships existing in these houses because the male, who used to be the provider, can?t afford to get out and get something they can afford to rent.

?And yet they would let a building like at Southside just sit there...Whatever their ten year projections for that land (are), they haven?t taken into account that people need housing right now. That?s exactly what Government should be doing ? using what they?ve got for emergency needs.?

Asked who created the housing crisis Sheelagh Cooper, another activist for affordable housing said greedy landlords share much of the blame for the crisis in affordable housing.

?There?s no question in my mind that we wouldn?t have the crisis we have without a lot of greedy landlords,? she said. But Government inaction in tackling that and the problem of a ?living wage? were also to blame. ?We have not made efforts to implement rent control here. The truth of the matter is we do not have a housing problem, we have an affordable housing problem. Here we have more bedrooms than people. We have to look at the issue of a living wage because we have a good portion of our people who simply do not have enough money to afford the basics.

?To focus on housing itself will ignore the issue of a living wage. A person should be able to make enough money to live an adequate standard of living. That simply is not the case for 15 percent, or more of our people.?

Asked his thoughts on the Opposition United Bermuda Party?s proposal to build more units on Government owned property at Tudor Hill, Southampton, Mr. DeVent said that there were a number of areas that could be considered.

?But it?s always easy to talk when you?re in Opposition. Just like the proposed plans for Prospect which they made a political issue. That area was zoned for over 200 units under their watch and there?s only 130.?

Mr. DeVent said the first priority has to be to get derelict and empty housing back into the market.

And he questioned whether building skyscrapers was ?really the way we want to go as a country.?

But he insisted that the Bermuda Housing Corporation had a number of initiatives up their sleeve.

Asked why they hadn?t delivered since late 1998 when the PLP came into power he blamed the ?serious challenges? the quango has been having in recent years.

?Because of what happened, the morale wasn?t at its highest,? he said referring to a high profile allegations of mismanagement and corruption at the corporation. ?We have had a movement of staff, and we?ve had a number where we?ve had to get the operation where it should be and I?m feeling very confident right now.?

Mr. DeVent added: ?I would also remind people that I?m new in the position and actually building houses takes time ? a plan doesn?t happen overnight but there (are) a few initiatives that Housing Corporation is working on.?