Anxious tenants of a Bermuda Housing Corporation (BHC) property on Anchorage Road in St. George?s are still waiting for a decision on what will happen to their homes after planned renovations are completed.

Tenants are concerned that the 16 units will be sold after the renovations and that ? even if they remain as rental properties ? the rents will rise and still force them from their homes.

But as of last week, the BHC had yet to make a decision on the fate of the property. Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent admitted in an interview with The Royal Gazette that he had no idea what would become of them.

?You should probably ask Vance Campbell (head of the BHC),? he said. Mr. Campbell said that plans to sell the St. George?s units for $600,000 to $700,000 announced last December are now ?under review?.

?BHC found the opportunity to have more units on the lower range of the price scale, but the original plan is being revisited to see where our direction ultimately lies,? he said.

In December, then-Housing Minister Terry Lister said BHC would spend $5 million renovating the Anchorage Road property and then place units up for sale, sparking heated debate in Parliament. Affected tenants acknowledged that the buildings needed renovating but were concerned that this would result in increased rents ? which they said they could not afford.

The tenants have been paying rents of $531 for one bedroom units, $890 for two bedrooms and just over $1,000 for three bedrooms. Many have lived in the building for several generations and expressed concern about being moved out of the parish and what this would mean for their children enrolled in school.

But neither Mr. DeVent nor Mr. Campbell could ease their fears. ?When BHC renovates, we can?t make any promises,? said Mr. DeVent. ?They might have to be moved further away than they want to be.?

And Mr. Campbell said that the low rents tenants had been paying were linked to the state of the units.

?Most of the existing rents reflect the poor condition of the houses,? he said. If the decision is made to renovate the units while keeping them as rental stock, only a few tenants will have to move out a time, he added, but the rental price will go up.

If the decision is made to sell the units after renovating, BHC will want all of the properties to be ready at the same time and all the current tenants will be forced out at the same time.

Mr. Campbell conceded such an action would create a problem for the quango because finding new rental units for the current tenants would be a significant challenge. ?There aren?t that many places, and there are a lot of people who want to rent,? Mr. Campbell said.

But, ultimately, the decision on the fate of the units rests with the BHC board. That decision will be made ?in the near future?, he said.