Mismanagement at scandal-ridden Bermuda Housing Corporation is now keeping needy families out new condos the corporation built in Warwick, Shadow Housing Minister Michael Dunkley claimed last night.

Mr. Dunkley said he was outraged when he learned that potential homeowners for the South Shore road development who thought they had secured new residences saw their deals fall through.

He said that BHC had told several people prices for the 12 condos which later skyrocketed as the purchase date approached, forcing them out of competition for the units.

But yesterday BHC acting general manager Deborah Blakeney said the 12 units had not been formally offered to anyone and the board had yet to announce whether they would be added to the corporations rental stock or sold to first time homeowners.

One single mother who shared her story with The Royal Gazette - who asked not to be named as she is still searching for accommodation - said BHC officers told her the unit she wanted to buy would be sold for $240,000.

For six months she believed that purchase price was locked down, she said. She made several visits to the property as it was under construction and was preparing to move to one of the new units.

But just two weeks ago, she received a call from BHC telling her she had been unsuccessful in her efforts to obtain one of the units.

"Now I am packing up to go nowhere," she said. "I was 95 percent sure I had a place."

BHC had never given her a target moving date however, she added. "They said they needed to go back to Cabinet. But then she (BHC officer Sherry Moore) called and said I would have to pay $2,500 per month for the cheapest unit.

"$2,300 would go toward the mortgage and the other $200 was for maintenance fees. I can't afford that and I have a good job. If I can't afford that what single mother can?"

Now she finds herself without a place to live at all.

"I am deathly worried about it," she told The Royal Gazette . "I am completely stressed out. If it were just me it wouldn't be so bad, I could bunk somewhere. "But I am very worried about my daughter. I am really worried about her school work and her overall health."

Ms Blakeney said yesterday however, that fate of the units is still in the hands of the BHC board.

"Those condos have not been offered to anyone at any price," she said. "There is considerable deliberating being done by the board on how to deal with the Perryville site.

"The board is considering whether they should be sold or rented. I believe they have come to a decision but they are not ready to release that publicly."

Ms Blakeney said the board has been looking at both the lists of those looking for immediate housing and the mortgage applications list in trying to make a decision about the property.

"They are looking at the clientele to make sure we will offer a good opportunity for 12 families," she said.

Ms Blakeney said the property was inspected recently and there were few, minor problems BHC has asked the contractor to fix. "These places are virtually ready. I am sure the board would like to release their decision as soon as everything has been taken into consideration."

She said the properties had been appraised but would be offered for considerably less than their fair market value. "They will be affordable," she said.

Mr. Dunkley claimed, however, that corporation misled and betrayed hopeful home owners.

"I have spoken to a number of families who were told the units would be $250,000 at the maximum," he said. "They started to make arrangements to buy but then the project ran over budget and BHC went back and told they would now be between $325,000 and $375,000 and if they didn't have the money, they would not qualify."

He added: "These people are very distressed. They were sold a bill of goods and then they had the rug pulled out from underneath them. The whole game was changed and there is still no one in those condos."