Minister Rabain overturns refusal of capsule housing proposal, citing engineering assurances and the urgency of housing crisis
Final planning permission for an emergency housing pilot at Boaz Island has been granted following an appeal – but the approval comes with an expiration date.
Diallo Rabain, Minister for the Cabinet Office and Digital Innovation, said the permission is granted “for a strictly limited period of four (4) years” and is subject to the enforcement of eight technical frameworks.
The Bermuda Housing Corporation previously appealed the Development Applications Board’s recommendation to refuse its proposal for emergency capsule housing units on Malabar Road in Sandys.
The project was initially rejected by planning, in part due to its lack of “Bermuda Image features”.
The proposed pilot of capsule units had also sparked concern among area residents and prompted formal objections over factors such as population density, infrastructure capacity and the preservation of the neighbourhood’s character.
In a detailed seven-page letter dated June 5, Minister Rabain said he had carefully considered the record of appeal, including “assessing the proposal against the provisions of the Bermuda Plan 2018 as a whole, balancing the urgent national mandate for transitional shelter with the vital planning protections owed to our local communities.”
He continued: “The objections raised by local residents are valid, deeply understood, and respected. Communities have an absolute right to expect that any development introduced into their neighbourhoods is structurally resilient, environmentally sanitary, and protective of their privacy. It is the Ministry’s role to ensure that innovation is never weaponised at the expense of the community’s standard of living.”
“However, the evidence now before me demonstrates that the initial areas of friction have been systematically resolved through robust, data-driven engineering and operational compromises.”
Planning permission for the units, granted for a term of four years, is attached to a number of conditions.
Regarding the aesthetics of the capsule units, Minister Rabain said BHC has “confirmed that the units feature a factory-applied white powder-coated aluminium cladding designed to reflect Bermuda’s classic white wall surfaces, complemented by dark window framing.”
He added, “this approval is conditional upon BHC applying traditional Bermuda accent colours to the exterior entrance doors and structural steel base plates before deployment, thereby establishing an intentional visual connection to Bermuda’s architectural heritage.”
Engineering evaluations from Brunel Ltd. confirmed the structures have a specific structural design life of only five to ten years and are structurally rated to withstand extreme hurricane wind speeds of 150 mph.
“Any consideration for a future extension beyond this 4-year limit will not be automatic; it will remain entirely conditional upon a formal evaluation of the units’ physical durability,” Minister Rabain said.
Other factors addressed by Minister Rabain in the letter include guarantees of public safety and hurricane resilience, immediate privacy issues, safe highway access and public road setbacks, environmental protections, public health and waste management, and community compatibility.
An emphasis was also placed on the strict enforcement of the pilot’s lifecycle.
“This project is approved strictly as a temporary, controlled pilot initiative to evaluate alternative construction speeds and fiscal performance during a national housing emergency,” wrote Minister Rabain. “In alignment with BHC’s written confirmation, this permission will automatically expire 4 years from the date of the issuance of the Certificate of Completion and Occupancy, at which point the units must be removed and the site restored, unless a formal renewal is granted based on proven operational compatibility.”
Zane DeSilva, Minister of Housing and Municipalities, has repeatedly defended the use of alternative construction methods such as modular housing due to their cost-effectiveness and ability to deliver housing rapidly. He previously expressed confidence to Bermuda Broadcasting that the project would ultimately get the green light.
Priority occupancy of the capsule units will be given to essential workers and vulnerable households.
The project falls under a 10-year roadmap aimed at tackling the housing crisis, with a target of delivering between 950 and 1,350 affordable and attainable housing units by 2035 using modular, precast, hybrid and mid-rise construction methods.
Our newsroom has reached out to Minister DeSilva for comment on this latest development.
Read Minister Rabain’s full decision letter below.
