sale of houses to foreign buyers.

Appleby, Spurling and Kempe property department head John Barritt, a UBP MP, has written to clients encouraging them to contact his staff about this fall's change in the minimum Annual Rental Value for property that can be sold to non-Bermudians.

Under the new policy, 264 homes are pegged at an ARV of $126,000, up from $43,800 set in 1989.

That year saw 234 houses on the elite list, a number which had grown to 352 houses by last year.

On October 25, more than 80 homes were dropped from the list, with 18 of those properties being owned by non-Bermudians.

Property owners dropped from the elite list cannot sell their properties to non-Bermudians. But according to the circulars, they have the option of appealing or improving their property so their ARV climbs back above $126,000.

Mr. Barritt, speaking in his professional capacity as a property lawyer -- said yesterday: "Our only concern was that our clients be aware and know what their options are.

"There are two routes that people can go with this. And we just wanted them to know.

"There have been some non-Bermudians who have made inquires just to find out what's going on. They may just want to increase their ARV.'' The circulars tell clients they can appeal the new assessment or "undertake further construction, by way of renovation, new additions, or a combination of both to raise the value of the property''.

The deadline for objections to the new ARVs is December 27, and homeowners are warned that a three-member panel will order a new assessment.

This could lead to an increase in the ARV, a decrease or no change in the amount a property can be rented for, AS&K warn.

The Land Valuation Office normally conducts a review of the ARV policy every five years, but the last one was in 1989.

An industry insider said the change only becomes of concern to non-Bermudians when they want to sell their homes.