Northern Ireland’s housing executive, the government agency handling the public housing policy in the province, is criticised in a new report by the Northern Ireland Economic Council, for being overly generous in its incentives to sitting tenants wishing to buy their homes. The independent think-tank set up to advise the secretary of state, says the government’s bias in support of owner occupiers will “make it harder to meet urgent housing needs”. It also says that it will hamper efforts to revive a rented sector “which is already too small”, and has been declining in Northern Ireland faster than anywhere in the UK.
- Financial Times 26/6/96 page 10
