article_snippet: housing-association tenants homes would likely require major changes to the 1996 Housing Act, forcing associations to sell properties at discounts set by government.
article_snippet: housing associations are autonomous, not-for-profit bodies that provide low-cost homes using public money and loans from the private sector.
article_snippet: At the moment, taxpayers subsidise the housing costs of many unemployed and lower paid workers who live in properties provided by housing associations.
article_snippet: But housing-association tenants have limited discounts and can only buy a property acquired by an association since 1997.