Housing Minister Ashfield DeVent commended the Families United In Action group for their march on Cabinet this week as the group sent a call to Government to provide housing the average Bermudian can afford.

Mr. DeVent, who has promised the group he will house 20 families by September and is currently in the process of constructing modular homes, said he was "on the same page" as the FUA in implementing well-thought out solutions to meet the demand for affordable homes.

Although a long-term plan has yet to be announced by Government and details surrounding the modular homes which have arrived in Bermuda have yet to be released, Mr. DeVent said he was doing everything to provide solutions so families on the Island do not have to be separated in their struggle to rise above the poverty line.

"I was pleased to see the FUA and Government were on the same page and the many solutions offered by the group are either being presently carried out by the Government or are under active consideration."

Mr. DeVent said as of January 1, 2005 approximately 3,000 units were placed under rent control raising the number from approximately 13,000 to 16,000. The call to develop incentives to contractors to build affordable housing and to allocate a portion of the project to affordable units had been considered and was in place at the Harbour Village project at Southside in St. David's, the statement reads.

According to Government this has led them to provide land and Customs duty relief on a project that would provide 198 two, three and four bedroom units with half being sold at $200,000.

"The Government has always been aware of the challenges and is committed to providing more affordable units and I was happy to see the Opposition on board," said Mr. DeVent. As the Minister responsible for housing I want to repeat a call for the country to take a holistic approach to tackling and solving the challenge.

"I am confident we can and will address all of our challenges with the input and support of all involved -?this includes both Government and Opposition, landlords, tenants, developers and most importantly neighbours of proposed projects.

"We must all be on board, because everyone in the community has a role and responsibility to assist in finding the solutions."