'We have to wait at least three months to sell our home'
A new law aimed at ensuring foreigners don’t elbow Bermudians out of the housing market is penalising sellers as well as buyers, according to a local father-of-one.
The 38-year-old, who works in retail, told The Royal Gazette how he and his wife had been affected by the Bermuda Immigration and Protection Amendment Act 2007, which became law last month. The legislation means Bermudians married to expatriates now need to obtain a licence in order to buy a home, even if their spouse is not named on the deeds or the mortgage. Permission can take up to six months to obtain.
“My wife and I currently live in a rented home in Paget,” said the man, who asked not to be named. “We currently own a condominium nearby. We decided earlier this year that we wanted to sell our property because we have one child and are planning to expand our family and want to own a home we can grow into.
“The condo would not be big enough for our family so we wanted to sell in the hopes of purchasing a larger home.
“We placed our condo on the market and received several offers. When we started negotiating a closing date, both parties were surprised by the new law.
“All our interested purchasers were Bermudians married to non-Bermudians and all were going to have to apply for a licence to purchase the property. We were hoping to close the sale within 30 days but were told we would have to wait at least three months for the purchasers to obtain the required licence.”
The man said that before the law came into effect he and his wife could probably have closed the deal in a month and reinvested their money in a new property.
“We are now forced to wait an estimated three to six months in the hopes that our purchaser is able to obtain a licence to own property,” he said. “If they are not able to obtain the licence, then we have to start back at square one and put the condo back on the market. In the meantime, our tenant’s lease will expire, we will be paying interest on our mortgage and have lost the opportunity to purchase properties that are currently available.
