Round the houses

It WAS kind of Thomas R Burgess (Letters, 20 April) to attempt to clear up my confusion regarding the social housing stock. But to continue his rural theme, I fear he has muddied the waters.

He says it is the collective housing stock that matters, not individual ones, but it is self-evident that the collective stock consists of individual properties (no such a thing as society anyone?).

Your original correspondents drew attention to the housing 
crisis and suggested that potential rent-to-buy purchasers should be encouraged to continue renting in order to help alleviate the 
crisis.

If they continue to rent, it seems to me that it doesn’t make one more property available for rental – so how does it help?

Ian Lewis

Mayfield Terrace

Edinburgh