Government may increase rents paid to landlords who loan their houses to Government but it is lukewarm on extending rent control.

Housing Minister Ashfield Devent said on Monday that Government will take a fresh look at the Island's soaring rents.

The latest figures show the average studio apartment is going for $1,354, the average one-bed for $1,838, the average two-bed for $3,577 and the average three-bed for $6,143.

He told the House: "This illustrates that the cost of housing in Bermuda is staggering.

"The Bermuda Housing Corporation will take a fresh and creative look at how rents are determined for its properties and will also look to other jurisdictions to see how they can tackle the problem of affordability."

However yesterday he admitted there was little Government could do to control rents in the private sector.

He told The Royal Gazette: "It's a free market."

He said he was not advocating rent control to be extended beyond its current coverage as it was a disincentive to further building for rentals.

"The people doing the building are looking to get a return. I am not pushing for it."

The Minister is keen to expand the existing private rental scheme run by the Bermuda Housing Corporation in which landlords lend their property to Government in return for guaranteed rent and the promise their property will be returned in good condition.

He said: "We are trying to reassess what is affordable in Bermuda. The Corporation is considering upping what we will pay."

Earlier in the House of Assembly Opposition MP Wayne Furbert had pointed out parcels of land owned by BHC which were empty.

He said Government needed to rezone the land for building or offload it.

The Minister said Government is considering rezoning some of the land it holds but again the Minister said he was against building on Bermuda's ever diminishing open space.

Brandishing an aerial colour map of Bermuda showing vastly more concrete than greenery he said: "Most of the open space is golf courses. I realise we need to maintain open space. It affects our rainfall."

He said land reclamation for building was extremely expensive and building housing on Morgan's Point was a decision for the Cabinet as a whole. Mr. DeVent's predecessor, Terry Lister, had pushed for the deserted 250-acre former US military base in Southampton to become a fourth residential hub but was blocked in Cabinet.

Mr. DeVent said Morgan's Point had to be cleaned up before anything could be done.

He said: "Where there's little land it has to be used for the benefit of all."

Asked about curbing immigration he said: "Again, it's a delicate balance."