Government will have to subsidise a belated ?lottery winners? housing scheme to the tune of $10.5 million, Sen. David Burch revealed yesterday.

The Housing Minister told the Senate that the Bermuda Homes for People (BHP) scheme at Harbourside Village, Southside, St. David?s, would not cost $50 million, as he may have mistakenly said in the past.

?$10.5 million is what the Government has to contribute to the project,? he said. ?I?m prepared to apologise if I misspoke. It certainly is not $50 million. If I did (say that) I misspoke and I apologise for misleading folk.?

Sen. Burch was responding to comments from Opposition Senate Leader Kim Swan who told the chamber that the Minister had told electronic media that the project ? to build 98 homes to sell cheaply to the winners of a ?lottery? held last year ? would cost $50 million.

Sen. Swan said that if that figure was accurate it would mean the Government would have to make up a shortfall of almost $26 million.

His remarks led to a heated exchange with Sen. Burch who denied ever quoting the figure $50 million. ?Wherever you got it from, you didn?t get it from me,? he said.

Sen. Swan said: ?He said it to the electronic media and I listened to the tape with the reporter that gave the newscast and he said $50 million. The Minister has got himself into trouble.?

Sen. Burch later conceded that he may have mistakenly given the figure of $50 million.

The Senate was considering a submission to approve the sale of a 120-year lease for 11 renovated cottages at Southside. Those homes are to be sold at just under market value ? from $775,000 to $1.1 million ? to help fund the Harbourside Village scheme.

The original plan by BHP, a group which was declared technically insolvent last year, was to build 98 budget homes and 98 market price homes, with the costlier homes paying for the construction of the cheaper properties.

But last month, Sen. Burch said the project had been downsized, meaning just 108 units would be built. Sen. Swan claimed that would have dramatic financial implications.

He told the Senate yesterday that the proposal regarding the 11 cottages was ?sketchy? and said the Senate should have seen a copy of the lease.

Sen. Burch said there was no legal requirement to show the Upper House the lease and claimed the Opposition had ?killed? the Bermuda Homes for People project. ?You have demonised it from the outset,? he said.

The submission to approve the sale of the lease was approved.

Work on the Harbourside Village project is due to start soon, with the 98 lottery winners being offered their homes at the bargain price of $199,000.