THIS farce of a government proves just how out of touch it is with real people when it persists with its plans for fixed-term tenancies for all new social housing tenants, some as short as five years.

Bolton Council, Bolton at Home and the other housing associations that make up Bolton Community Homes rejected this scheme when Communities Secretary Eric Pickles first introduced it at the end of 2010, or the beginning of 2011. I am pleased they have done so again.

As I said back then, anyone with a grain of understanding knows only too well it is stability that holds together the very fabric of social housing estates and it is the longterm tenants and residents who provide that stability. Estates need tenants of different ages and income levels.

Politicians are wrong to think that social housing is merely a stepping stone on the way to buying your own home. Social housing should be, as it always has, a choice for those wanting to live in good affordable rented homes And, of course, long-term tenants save social landlords thousands of pounds, caring for the homes they live in and the community thereabouts.

Brian Derbyshire Ribchester Grove Bolton