The Bermuda Housing Trust has echoed the sentiments of Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent by insisting it is not legally required to make its financial statements public ? despite ongoing complaints over recent rent hikes.

In a Press statement this week, BHT trustees said their financial affairs had been properly audited and they would continue in their mission to provide affordable housing for seniors while making every effort to cover the costs of maintenance to their 82 units Island-wide and generate income to increase the housing stock.

While rental fees for all properties once varied widely, the Board decided last year to harmonise rents, which led to an increase from around $300 to $650 a month for some units.

The Board also stressed it would be willing to open its books to all those who are interested in making a charitable donation to the organisation, which was established under an Act of Parliament in 1965.

?The Board notes that neither its Act nor any other legislation requires the financial statements of the Trust to be filed publicly,? the statement read.

?However, the Board can report that the financial statements of the Trust have been audited as of March 31, 2004 (its last fiscal year-end) and that preparation has commenced for the year-ended March 31, 2005. The Board wishes to stress that it will make available any financial information to those persons or parties that are interested in assisting the Board in the carrying out of its mandate.?

However, Opposition MP John Barritt continued to argue that the seniors living in BHT properties should also be entitled to peruse the Trust?s finances, in order to satisfy themselves that the rent increases are entirely justified. While conceding rents had not been altered since 1997, Mr. Barritt said there were questions and concerns which still needed to be addressed.

The MP said some of his constituents who live in BHT accommodation at Purvis Park in Devonshire are up in arms having had their rents more than doubled, a levy which has ?comprehensively? outstripped the rate of inflation.