A revelation that only five of 90 housing units at the Bermudiana Beach Residences have been rented to Bermudians to date was “unacceptable,” the Shadow Minister of Housing said.

Michael Fahy also questioned why Bermudians are going to be placed in modular housing — as mentioned by Zane DeSilva, the Minister of Housing and Municipalities last week — while “perfectly good housing units sit empty on South Shore”.

He said: “With over 300 people on waiting lists at Bermuda Housing Corporation and 1,100 people homeless or facing homelessness as identified by the charity Home, this is unacceptable.”

Mr Fahy said that answers to his parliamentary questions posed on the housing sector “exposed” the extent of the “failing of the Bermudiana Beach Residences” to alleviate a housing crisis affecting Bermudians.

A response provided to the MP last week showed that one studio apartment, along with three one-bedroom and one two-bedroom apartments at the site in Warwick, were now rented to Bermudians.

It said that units had been leased by the Ministry of Public Works and Environment’s estates department.

The response added that the ministry was not aware of the origins, business arrangements and demographics of those housed at the units rented by the ministry, which included two of each of the project’s studio, one-bedroom, two-bedroom and three-bedroom units.

Mr Fahy said this week: “The question is, for who? What is happening here is that the Bermuda taxpayer is paying twice for this debacle — the revamp of the building and then potentially the rental costs of some of the units if Government is not being reimbursed for renting the units to others.”

On Friday, Mr DeSilva, who is also the Deputy Premier, told MPs that modular housing will be introduced to Bermuda to help move the dial on the Bermuda Housing Corporation’s waiting lists.

Mr Fahy noted that the modular container units have not received planning permission, which he said “seems strange, given that the units have already been purchased”.

MPs heard that 11 container homes scheduled for installation on the island within the next four months were expected to provide immediate relief for people in critical need of housing.

The modular and expandable units will be set up at a government-run site and will act as a pilot scheme to assess whether their use could provide a long-term solution.

Mr DeSilva noted that a wider goal of the Government is to increase the supply of affordable homes across the island while modernising and diversifying how they are delivered.

The ministry was invited to respond to Mr Fahy’s remarks but none was received by the time of publication.