The country is depending on government to take control of rental prices either per area code or per square foot

Bermudians, including myself, cannot find affordable housing and “crisis” almost seems to be an understatement. If landlords are left to choose pricing - the extortion WILL continue. The greedy will he greedier and the rich will get richer. We NEED government to enforce regulations regarding air BNB’s as well as standard rental apartments. Other small countries have made air BNB’s illegal in order to keep their country’s residents. An alternative (using a model similar to the Philippines): government can asses the current cost of living, minimum wage and average mortgage payments for landlords to come up with affordable housing prices . Eg. all one bedrooms centrally located cannot charge > $2500 per month for a one bedroom. This can be done per area code with a general understanding that central parishes may be a little higher than an area code in Somerset which may have a 1 bedroom maximum of $2300. The Philippines does theirs by area code - we can do per parish. Alternatively: price per square foot is also a very fair way to keep pricing consistent regardless of area code. Made up numbers, but eg. All studion apartments with a square footage between 300-700 square feet cannot charge more than $1500 monthly. Please note that with the minimum wage in mind of $17 : if a person who makes this is to works a 40 hour work week, their entire monthly take home is $2,720 (without deductions like payroll, social insurance, or health insurance, or pension(s). If renting a one bedroom costs $2,500 per month, they will not be able to afford belco, groceries, vehicle expenses, children + daycare costs, and definitely not cell phone and internet. Either minimum wage needs to be SIGNIFICANTLY Increased for people to have a chance to survive OR housing prices need to be capped to something the average Bermudian can afford. Even a combination- but the responsibility and power is solely in the hands of the government. If you want Bermudians to live here, dramatic action is needed now - building housing projects takes YEARS. We cannot wait years to turn over 10 apartments and only help 10 families - this is expensive, unsustainable , and honestly barely making a dent in the surface of this housing crisis. In 2035 - at this rate all of us blue collar workers will have had no choice but to move to the UK. We cannot afford to live in our own country anymore. All that will be left is the expats and exemp companies who can afford the current prices listed for housing. We cannot keep talking about it with no action. We cannot keep acting in 10 year plans without addressing one that helps Bermudians now - while we are still on island. I truly hope we have people in power who are going to fix this. I myself have to be out of my apartment in august due to landlord selling the property and cannot find anywhere to go. I’ve seen one bedrooms posted for 3k-7,500 per month which is just not sustainable, especially with a child. There’s so many people like me who are depending on you to fix this. It shouldn’t be this impossible to find somewhere to live and avoid homelessness.