Regarding Bermuda’s housing crisis, we must ask the question: what kind of communities are we building for the next generation?

The Government deserves credit for recognising that Bermuda has a housing crisis and for putting forward a ten-year Affordable Housing Strategy. Its stated objective is to deliver between 950 and 1,350 affordable and attainable housing units over the next decade, while also rehabilitating derelict properties and bringing underutilised rental units back into service. But recognition is not resolution.

The Bermuda Housing Corporation waiting list grew from 333 households in November 2025 to 357 in December, meaning the waiting list is growing while the Government is building.

The first major programme is estimated at $114.75 million for 229 residential units. That is a significant investment, therefore we must examine the economics of our housing strategy. At roughly $501,000 per unit, we must think critically and holistically about the housing strategy. We must think in terms of land efficiency, community design, long-term affordability and social outcomes. We must build housing that works.

Bermuda has limited land. We should therefore be building upward where appropriate, not indiscriminately, but intelligently. Five, eight and ten-storey developments should be considered in locations where infrastructure, transportation and planning considerations support them. The Government’s own strategy recognises the value of more efficient land use and increased density.

Imagine what could be achieved if government-owned land was used to create carefully planned, mixed-demographic communities rather than spending $114.75 million simply repeating the low-density housing models of the past. We must also look beyond the traditional boundaries of public housing.

Properties such as Teucer House and the Queen’s Club building in Hamilton should be assessed for conversion or redevelopment into modern residential communities.

Housing in and around Hamilton can place people closer to employment, public transportation, schools, services and the economic life of the island. But the architecture is only part of the answer.

Every significant affordable housing development should be designed according to the principles of Crime Prevention Through Environmental Design. That means good lighting, clear sight lines, controlled access, appropriate landscaping, secure entrances, well-designed pedestrian areas, natural surveillance and communal spaces that encourage residents to know one another.

Furthermore, all developments must incorporate renewable energy solutions, tree planting and landscape design to reduce energy costs and create peaceful environments.We must never again build communities where social problems become concentrated.

Instead, I propose mixed-demographic affordable housing communities. Families should live alongside young professionals, seniors and essential workers. Police officers and correctional officers, Bermudian and recruited from overseas, should be eligible to live within these communities.

Why? Because the presence of responsible, working professionals can strengthen community stability. More importantly, police and correctional officers are themselves struggling with Bermuda’s housing costs. We cannot demand that people protect our communities while making it impossible for them to afford to live here. Police officers and correctional officers should therefore receive a meaningful housing allowance or housing benefit as part of their employment package.

The same principle should extend to the people who keep our tourism and restaurant industry functioning: hospitality and restaurant workers should receive comparable housing assistance and benefits. We need workers but we must not create a two-tier system in which overseas workers receive housing assistance while Bermudian workers performing equally essential jobs are left behind. Housing policy must support the entire workforce and housing must come with services.

Large developments should include recreation centres, children’s programmes, youth activities, social services and access to case management. Families struggling with addiction, mental health, unemployment, domestic instability or other challenges should be connected to appropriate assessment and treatment services. This is not about judging people. It is about recognising that a roof over someone’s head is the beginning of stability, not the end of the process.

For appropriate applicants entering long-term Government-supported housing, there should be an assessment of needs and a pathway to services where necessary. The Bermuda affordable housing strategy 2025-26 proposes that the planned housing authority would oversee shared-equity, rent-to-own and first-time-buyer programmes. This is the right way forward and must be made a priority and properly planned for and resourced.

Imagine the transformational power of home ownership for families who demonstrate the ability to sustain homeownership have a pathway out of permanent rental dependence. The Government should also consider existing housing developments for turnover to home ownership for its residents.

Residents should have a genuine stake in their community. Reasonable homeowners’ association or community maintenance fees should be incorporated into appropriate developments to ensure that common areas, lighting, landscaping, recreational facilities and security infrastructure remain properly maintained. Affordable housing should not mean neglected housing and communities intended to protect families should be protected by law.

I support establishing appropriately legislated housing sanctuary zones or enhanced enforcement zones around government-supported family housing developments, with significantly increased penalties for offences involving violence, weapons, drug dealing, intimidation, vandalism and other conduct that threatens residents.

Children should be able to walk to a recreation centre without fear. Parents should be able to let their children play outside.Families should be able to come home without wondering what they will encounter in their own neighbourhood. Safety must be part of the definition of affordable housing.

The Government’s strategy is a starting point. But a starting point is not the destination. If we build 950 or 1,350 units over ten years, we must know whether that will actually close the housing gap or merely slow its growth.

We must establish measurable targets for units delivered, waiting-list reductions, cost per unit, home ownership achieved, crime reduction, community participation and resident outcomes and publish those measurements annually to determine if our approach is working.

Are more young Bermudian couples able to raise their children here? Are police and correctional officers numbers up because they can now afford to live in the community they protect while also being kept safe themselves?

Can Bermudians now consider hospitality as a viable profession because they are now provided with housing? Can a child growing up in a government-supported home now be kept safe and have access to recreation, education and opportunity?

We must strive to build better, build smarter and build with purpose. We need to build upward where appropriate, integrate social services, design against crime, create pathways to ownership, house essential workers, invest in recreation and hold ourselves accountable for the outcomes.

The standard should not be whether government can say it has built another housing unit.The standard should be whether that home helped create a safe family, a stable neighbourhood and a stronger Bermuda.The affordable housing strategy we should demand creates safer communities, stronger families and a future our children can afford.

• Robert King is the independent MP for Smith’s North