Some of Castletown’s housing stock could be sold to tenants under a proposal being considered by the town's commissioners.

The local authority is to write to government to see if the suggestion could become a reality, subject to certain criteria being fulfilled.

Board chairman Richard Ronan says many tenants would welcome the opportunity to buy their own home, and believes the proportion of council houses within the town’s stock is too high:

"It's 44 per cent, which is the highest per head of population in the Isle of Man, and we are not encouraging people in Castletown to buy their own homes when those figures are so high.

"I'm convinced a lot of people would want to buy their own homes, but not forgetting also that there are still a lot of people who don't want to.

"That's fine, that's good but there are a lot of people in public sector housing who have missed the boat.

"It's central government's decision, but I would hope that if there is support for this they would use Castletown as the guinea pig for such a scheme."

There will be more on this story on this evening's Mandate PM.

(Picture: Town crest at the Castletown Civic Centre).