Bermuda means so many different things to so many different people. How we see this island is often shaped by our individual experiences. Our goals, lifestyles, needs and everyday realities are different. For some people, Bermuda is close to paradise. For others, living here can feel like anything but.
The latest conversation around that difference in experience comes from a Facebook post being shared around about a family moving to Bermuda from the UK looking for a three-bedroom home with a budget of $10,000 a month.
The responses have been interesting. Some people see it as another example of Bermudians being priced out of the housing market. Others have joked that maybe they’re charging too little for their own rental properties. Then there have been some who’ve said this is simply the current market and that we should welcome the fact that a family of four has chosen Bermuda as their home. I can understand all of those perspectives.
For the sake of clarity, housing affordability isn’t uniquely a Bermuda problem. Throughout the world, people are struggling to afford homes in the communities where they were born and raised. We’ve watched gentrification transform neighborhoods and push longtime residents further away from places their families helped build. But Bermuda has one significant difference. Where exactly are Bermudians supposed to go?
In a larger country, someone priced out of one city might move to another city, suburb or state. We don’t have that luxury. We’re 21 square miles in the middle of the Atlantic. When Bermudians are priced out of Bermuda, leaving doesn’t mean moving an hour down the road. It can mean leaving their country entirely. That’s why I continue to say solving our challenges requires more than Government.
We need corporations to think about the impact their growth has on housing demand. We need banks to consider whether their lending practices are helping Bermudians become homeowners. We need landlords and homeowners to recognize the role they play in the market. We need renters to understand the realities property owners face. Let me add, the Government has a responsibility to create policies that encourage more housing supply and make it easier for people to find somewhere affordable to live. This requires an entire community to become more conscious about what’s happening around us.
I’m not suggesting someone shouldn’t charge market value for their property. I’m also not suggesting people shouldn’t move to Bermuda if they have the means to live here. Bermuda needs people, and attracting residents who contribute to our economy can benefit the country. But we also have to ask what happens when the market value of living in Bermuda becomes disconnected from what many Bermudians actually earn.
It saddens me to think about people whose families have contributed to this island for generations eventually deciding they can’t afford to remain here through no fault of their own. If we continue on this trajectory, where do we end up? Maybe Bermuda becomes an even more attractive paradise for people with significant wealth. But what happens to everyone else?
The objective shouldn’t be preventing people with money from coming to Bermuda. It should be ensuring their arrival and our economic growth don’t make it impossible for the people already here to remain.
A country shouldn’t only be successful because people want to move there. Surely, part of its success should also be measured by whether its own people can afford to stay.
