§ 40. Mr. Blairasked the Secretary of State for the Environment what representations he has received from the housing association movement about his proposal to give cash discounts to tenants of homes owned by charities.
§ Sir George YoungThe only representations from the housing association movement sent direct to the Department have been from the National Federation of Housing Associations, which wrote to my hon. Friend the Minister for Housing and Construction in January that its national council welcomed the proposals as a means of helping the tenants of charitable housing associations to become homeowners whilst enabling the associations to retain the property they own. It referred to its hope that the funding arrangements for the scheme would not detract from the movement's programme of future development, and the need for appropriate safeguards against abuse or unnecessary expenditure, on which there have since been discussions between the federation and my Department.