They claim it is unfair that former council tenants can buy while they are not allowed to do so. They also say the trust's services are substandard.
But the pleas from tenants of Guinness Court, Islington, have been stonewalled by both the DTLR and the trust.
A spokeswoman for the trust said: "Our houses were first and foremost built to provide for people in need.
If we start to sell off our stock, where does that leave those most in need?"
The DTLR was equally uncompromising. A spokeswoman said: "The government has no intention of making any alterations to the right to buy."
Under current rules, charitable housing associations, such as Guinness, can opt out of allowing tenants to buy their homes.
The London Federation of Guinness Trust Tenants' Associations has persuaded former cabinet minister and Islington South MP Chris Smith to write to housing minister Lord Falconer to raise the issue.
In his letter, seen by Housing Today, Smith outlines concerns about the anomaly whereby former council tenants keep the right to buy their homes from housing associations after transfer, while neighbours who were always association tenants cannot.
John Walsh, federation chair, said: "I don't think that Guinness have considered the issue in any depth, so we need to get [it] onto the debating table."
He added: "In the last couple of years, the level of services being provided by Guinness have not been as robust as they might have been."
The trust told Housing Today that claims about service quality were untrue. Its spokeswoman said that chief executive Simon Dow, the former Housing Corporation deputy chief executive, would be meeting Smith "sometime next month" to discuss the tenants' concerns.
Source
Housing Today
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