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The great rent rip-off
• YOUR correspondent thinks that we have enough social housing in Islington (Buyers will feel pain, February 29).
Although there is house-building going on all over Islington, 99 per cent of it is way beyond the pockets of the very people who need it. Their only hope is more social housing, preferably provided by local authorities.
One of the myths which constantly needs countering is that council housing is subsidised, presumably by the rest of the community. This isn’t true. Council rents are more than adequate to pay for the necessary repairs and maintenance.
It isn’t that council rents are too low, it’s that private rents are too high.
This is because the private landlord wants to make as much money as possible and, in the case of companies which own large amounts of accommodation, they want to provide as large a dividend as possible for shareholders.
P Wagland
Brecknock Road, N19
• Adrian Watson thinks Labour’s goal of 50 per cent of new housing being affordable is “far left”. Has Mr Watson ever met anyone from the far left? If he had, he would know that no one on the far left would accept anything less than 100 per cent council housing in every development.
The Mayor of London’s “50 per cent affordable” rule for new homes is fair, progressive and achievable. But those of us who support it cannot take it for granted.
The Conservatives want to scrap the target, and that is why I believe it is more important than ever to have a Labour Mayor of London to keep the 50 per cent rule.
We need these affordable homes – and so we need to keep the Tories out of the Mayor’s office and out of Islington.
Tim McLoughlin
Highbury Grange, N5
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