Premier Alex Scott has not yet moved into his new official residence of ?Clifton? on Middle Road, Devonshire.

Premier Scott confirmed early in 2004 that his new home, formerly the official residence of the Chief Justice, would be converted to house all future Premiers.

But Director of the Department of Communication and Information, Beverle Lottimore said last week that Mr. Scott was not concentrating his attention on Clifton.

?The people of Bermuda being housed is more important than the Premier moving into Clifton,? Ms Lottimore said. ?He already has a roof over his head.?

In March, Government said the overheated construction market and the lack of an available contractor were behind the continuing delays to the renovation of Clifton.

However, Opposition claims that the current cost of renovations were close to $500,000 and rising were greatly exaggerated, Works and Engineering Minister Ashfield DeVent said in the House of Assembly in March ? placing the figure at only $60,500.

Seven months after the last update, no more updates were forthcoming from DCI. Ms Lottimore saying yesterday: ?I have given you all the information there is?.

Shadow Housing Minister Wayne Furbert said on Friday that Clifton was just one of many empty Government homes, although he could not put an exact figure on exactly how many empty homes there were.

Camden in the Botanical Gardens will continue to function as a facility for ceremonial occasions and has never been lived in by a Premier.

It was reported in March that no contractor was at Clifton with the majority of the demolition work completed so far having been done by Ministry of Works and Engineering staff.

Clifton itself was in need of significant renovation, although this was understood to be largely superficial and the physical structure of the house would not be radically altered.

Work that still had to be carried out included the replacement of all fixtures in the kitchen and bathrooms, extensive re-tiling and re-carpeting, new interior wall and ceiling finishes and upgrades to the electrical, plumbing, security and air conditioning systems.

There were also plans to rebuild the washroom in the main entrance way, while some partitioning on the upper floor was to be changed to make adjustments to the master bedroom.