to set up a new body to ease the housing crisis for low-income families.

Charles Jeffers -- chairman of the National Liberal Party -- in making the official announcement yesterday, said he would now be trying to drum up support for his new project without the risk of a party affiliation causing problems.

Now a leadership race is on for the party -- with current press spokesman Graeme Outerbridge emerging as the early favourite.

Mr. Jeffers -- chairman of the NLP for four years -- said: "If people have a look round, I'm sure they will agree that housing for those at the lowest end of the social scale is a pressing issue.'' And he added the lack of decent housing was at the root of many of Bermuda's other social problems.

Mr. Jeffers said: "The problems we have in housing relate to some of the other problems in Bermuda -- abuse, both physical and mental, drugs, unwanted pregnancies, and the lack of education and lack of performance by young people because they don't have a home environment conducive to study.'' And he added: "There are also a lot of young people out there working so hard to keep a roof over their heads, they don't have the time to upgrade their skills or spend much time with their children.'' Mr. Jeffers was staying tight-lipped over how he planned to launch his war on the housing crisis.

But he hinted that a new charitable foundation to create affordable housing could be the favoured route.

Mr. Jeffers, 58, said: "We're now in negotiations and talks with Government.

We've had a meeting with (Housing Minister) Nelson Bascome and other leaders in the community. The primary reason for this is to create a vehicle to get this moving.

"Some sort of charity is a distinct possibility and that's what we're really looking at.

"But at the moment we're at the very early stages and we're working out the best way to do it.'' Mr. Jeffers added that he would always be interested in politics -- but that he felt he had to end active affiliation with any party to increase his chances of success with his new project.

He said: "What I'm doing now, with my resignation from the NLP, is to put myself in a position where people don't feel they are aligning themselves with a political party if they agree to come on board and work with us.'' But he said he still supported the ideals of the NLP and would continue to comment on other issues.

Mr. Jeffers said: "Politics is in my blood. I've been actively involved in politics in one shape or form since I was 18 years old. That's 40 years.

"I will always have politics in my system because, whether we agree with each other or not, that's how we run a country.

"And this won't stop me from writing or issuing statements about things I feel strongly about.''