Column: PLP’s Bell On Housing, Solutions & More
[Opinion column written by PLP Senator Lauren Hayward Bell]
Right now, across Bermuda, too many families are searching for their own piece of the rock. A place to rest their heads. A place to feel safe. A place they can afford.
We live and are engaged with our community, so we see first-hand how this struggle has broken families, impacted children’s education and led to many seeking better opportunities overseas. What we have seen has broken our hearts and made us more determined to fix it.
To us, this housing crisis isn’t a problem in theory, or a story to share for brownie points. It is real, the impact on our people is real and their experiences drive us to make things right for them.
That’s why we are focused on increasing housing supply, removing roadblocks to new developments, supporting the delivery of additional units, looking at ways to make better use of existing housing stock and exploring innovative solutions to help put keys in the hands of as many Bermudians as we can, as quickly as we can.
We are delivering houses and pushing forward with solutions for our people across the island. Yet still the OBA attacks, distracts, and act like they want the work we are doing on behalf of our people to move slower or even stop altogether.
“Not here.”
“Not this way.”
“Not now.”
Dismiss, distract and delay. That’s clearly becoming the OBA way.
Delays have consequences. They mean more families waiting or stuck in crowded unstable places, or forced to continue paying more than they can afford.
Every Bermudian must ask themselves, if every PLP solution is attacked, demeaned or forced to be delayed, what is the OBA plan to actually house Bermudians?
Do they even care?
We know first hand the challenges being faced by our people, so this isn’t a game to us and this isn’t about who can score the most political points.
That’s why we are determined to move projects forward, reduce delays, and increase the supply of housing available to Bermudian families. So the next time the OBA tries to dismiss, distract or delay, ask yourselves, “Do they even care?”
- Senator Lauren Hayward Bell, Junior Minister of Economy & Labour
A core issue to the housing situation is the PLP’s failure to control the economy. Currently it is out of control and far too biased towards IB and expats. In addition the PLP has relaxed the safeguards that were put in place to restrict the properties that could only be bought Bermudians. A good example is the EIRC that allowed those persons to buy properties above $2.5m, a far too low figure. There are many other examples, but the PLP own the problem but don’t understand how or why they caused the problem.
What a sad excuse for abject failure by the PLP to provide housing and resources for the baby boomer generation. What an abject failure to provide housing.
Do you want to know how to do it…Ban homes being used for tourism. Ban AIR B N B now. Only resorts allowed for tourism. You”ll find plenty of houses then. Instead you epwant to shack people up in ghetto like container homes. Treating Bermudians like dirt with snake oil sales. Wake up senator GOD is watching.
The problem is that the PLP has tunnel vision. They don’t and won’t see the wider picture. Why? They don’t give a damn on reality, the shame blame scenario to defer their shortcomings. Pretty well on par with Trumps war, deflecting the real issues…the Epstein files
“They don’t and won’t see the wider picture”
Do you think they are even capable of understanding?
Both the Minister of Economy and his Junior Minister are hard-core union people. Pretty much everything they have said in the past has demonstrated their inability to grasp the most basic principles of economics.
And don’t even think about asking them about the difference between macro-economics and micro-economics!
Dear Senator Bell,
As the Junior Minister of Economy & Labour, please will you explain how spending an undisclosed amount of money in excess of $100 million to build 94 units as part of an affordable housing project (Grand Atlantic/Bermudiana Beach) makes sense.
Leaving aside the variable value between studio and 1, 2, or 3 bedroom units, the average cost per unit to develop the “affordable housing project” is in excess of $1,060,000.
We all know that only one person wanted to buy into the Grand Atlantic affordable housing project.
Just last year the PLP Government announced that it would rent units at Bermudiana Beach for between $3,000 and $7,000 per month.
As Junior Minister of Economy you should be able to tell us how many ordinary Bermudians can afford to live in your affordable housing project.
As a high-ranking member of the BPSU you know how much ordinary working Bermudians earn. You sit in on union negotiations with employers.
Does the PLP Government consider $3,000 per month for a studio apartment affordable?
Does the PLP Government consider $4,600 per month for a 1 bedroom apartment affordable?
Stepping from one fiasco to another surrounding the Grand Atlantic, you might safely increase the net cost to well over $200M factoring in all of the mods, the administration costs, the daily maintenance costs and the cost of the money to finance all of these costs while this folly has sat there earning absolutely nothing to pay for itself.
Well, not quite nothing. The OBA managed to get a little renting units during the America’s Cup.