Flat-top Bermuda Housing Corporation units in Prospect are to be offered to sitting tenants for sale, Housing Minister David Burch has revealed.

He said a meeting had been held with tenants last week to explain the concept.

And he said BHC had taken over a derelict house on Cedar Avenue near the Tennis stadium to develop into a halfway house for released prisoners.

Speaking during the Senate debate on Housing, Minister Burch said the BHC was in the closing stages of buying a city property for affordable geared-to-income housing.

And he said BHC had received a number of proposed housing projects suggestions which were just outside the affordable range mark.

"Many are in the $700,000 range and involve the development of up to a dozen units."

They might not suit BHC current clients but they would interest many others as they were considerably less than market rate, said Sen. Burch.

So BHC will act as go-between for the developer and buyers and negotiate duty relief with the condition that the discount is passed on to the buyer.

"These types of projects will address the middle class who have been indicating we are not addressing their needs. Well, we intend to."

He urged those interested in buying such properties to register with BHC.

Sen. Burch also outlined a number of housing projects that Government had in the pipeline including Loughlands where the first phase of 21 units is 99 percent complete and the second phase of 21 units which is 50 percent complete.

However, he came under heavy fire from Opposition Senator Gina Spence-Farmer who said homelessness was splitting families, but Government was just repeatedly delivering promises not houses.

She said the United Bermuda Party had built houses all over the Island but the PLP's record was riddled with failure with the biggest losers among the poor. But now the problem was spreading to the middle class because affordable housing had not been delivered.

Now there were people living in caves, cars and bushes, said Mrs. Spence-Farmer, who said even poverty-stricken Haiti was in the midst of large public housing programme which put Bermuda to shame.

Those forced to leave a home because their landlord wanted it back for some reason suddenly found themselves in an unforgiving market said Mrs. Spence-Farmer.

"People are working two and three jobs but that is still not cutting it."

It took a particular toll on the children growing up in crowded or unsuitable environments said the Opposition Senator who said she had seen the problems first hand through her charity work.

Sen. Burch said the housing crisis could not be attributed to Government but to divorce with families not staying together.

He added: "Families in this country will not step up to the plate and help their relatives.

"You cannot look to the Government to step into the gap when you have families who have parents or whatever in difficulty and you think 'Oh no, not me, it's the Government'."

However, Government's statistics show there are fewer divorces now than 20 years ago despite a rising population. In 1991, when Bermuda's population stood at 58,000, 195 divorces were granted. But in 2006 when Bermuda had a population of 64,000 the divorce rate had fallen to 164.

Probed about his claims divorce was a big factor in the number of housing units needed, despite the statistics not showing there was more divorce, Sen. Burch told The Royal Gazette: "Okay, maybe they are not getting divorced but they aren't living together.

"We see that in the results of why people are applying for housing."