Government has underscored its commitment to making more homes available to Bermudians, despite suffering defeat in the courts in the GoldenEye case.

provided an update on controversial land laws cracking down on property sales to foreigners during a budget debate in the House of Assembly.

And he said that two bills were being prepared in a bid to highlight and stamp out ?fronting?.

A moratorium on the purchase of land by non-Bermudians was introduced last year. And Mr. Horton said that, with this in place, there were about 150 properties above the policy?s minimum annual rental value ?already in the hands of non-Bermudians?.

The new regulations state that foreigners are now only able to buy homes with annual rental values of more than $126,000 and are being sold by non-Bermudians.

Mr. Horton?s comments to the House come after a Supreme Court judge ruled that Government?s 2005 decision to ban Bermudians from selling homes to foreigners was ?unlawful? and ?an abuse of power?.

Puisne Judge Geoffrey Bell, ruling in a case involving the Island?s most expensive residential property, the $45 million St. George?s mansion GoldenEye, said that the Minister had not acted in the public interest when he brought in the controversial policy change a year ago.

It is still unclear what the ruling might mean for other rich Bermudian landowners who wish to sell.

In the wake of the verdict, realtors said it was uncertain whether the ruling voided the policy change and would allow Bermudians to immediately sell high-end properties to foreigners or whether each individual case would have to go before the courts.

Mr. Horton declined to comment on the ruling after the debate on Wednesday as he said Government was planning its next legal move.

But he added that the aim of the land legislation was to ?close holes? that allow foreigners to buy land that he said should be for Bermudians.

Earlier, he told the House that ?unscrupulous? non-Bermudians had been snapping up residential and commercial property, and undeveloped land, using companies, Bermudians and Bermudian trusts as ?fronts?. Worst cases saw them use ?fronts? to buy homes reserved for Bermudians, such as properties well below the annual rental value.

He said this was one of the reasons why the price of even modest homes had spiralled beyond the reach of ?all but the wealthiest Bermudians?.

?The new policy was to warn people that speculation in land by unscrupulous Bermudians must stop and to put fronts on notice that the law will be amended to uncover fronting situations and punish offenders.?

Commenting on the two new bills, Mr. Horton said the first would require trustees who hold land in Bermuda on trust to register with the Registrar General within three months of land being vested in trustees. Trust changes must also be registered within three months of the amendments. Existing trusts will have three months after the bill becomes law to register.

Mr. Horton said that failure to register will lead to prosecution, and conviction could mean $50,000, one year in jail or both.

He also said it would be made an offence for a non-Bermudian or overseas partnership to appropriate land they had no legal ownership rights on, and hold or acquire land without a licence. It will also be illegal for them to hold land in a trust for a restricted person, and a non-Bermudian will not be able to take out a mortgage on land above $100,000 without Government permission.

Any Bermudian who receives financial help of more than $250,000 from a restricted person to buy or improve land will also have to notify the Minister. Banks will also have to inform the Minister about deals it believes needs Government approval.

Breaches of these offences will carry ?stiff? fines and imprisonment and could see land confiscated.

Mr. Horton said that a transition period after the anti-fronting laws come into effect will allow fronters to dispose of land to Bermudians. Immigration officials will probe the register of land trusts with a view to prosecutions.

Another law change will require Commonwealth citizens to apply for land licences or sell up. Mr. Horton said that before 1989 it was lawful for Commonwealth citizens to acquire land in Bermuda without a licence through inheritance or after a mortgage was foreclosed.

There were now an ?unknown? number of people holding land this way, he added, and they will be given 90 days once the law is passed to get a free licence. People who miss this deadline will have to pay for a licence or get rid of the land.

?If they still own the land after three years and still have no licence, they will have committed an offence which will have serious consequences for them,? added the Minister.