Mr. Simon Brooke:

I wish to address the questions asked by Deputies Stanley and Catherine Murphy on tenant purchase and social mix, respectively. They are important questions for the future of the social housing sector. Clúid has been in favour of the principle of tenant purchase for a number of years. A great deal of evidence shows that mixed tenure communities have higher outcomes for all of their residents than estates with large residualised housing do. Indeed, the Beacon South Quarter project with which we are involved is a mixed tenure development that includes social housing as well as market rented housing.

As a broader policy, we are considering how to ensure a range of tenures in future housing developments as far as possible. We are also trying to determine how a range of tenures can be introduced into existing developments. Tenant purchase will form part of this.

One of our issues with tenant purchase is that, while we are a not-for-profit organisation, we are also a not-for-loss organisation. We could not possibly afford to have the type of tenant purchase scheme that used to be in place for local authorities. Our scheme would be different and would need to be financially viable and capable of making a contribution to housing need.