Housing - think of the others

Published: 4:19 PM December 10, 2008 Updated: 3:57 AM February 23, 2021

YOUR front page article about housing (November 26) could have been really interesting but in fact was just another moan about individuals who already have a home but want something more. It is recognised countrywide that there is a lack of social housing

YOUR front page article about housing (November 26) could have been really interesting but in fact was just another moan about individuals who already have a home but want something more.

It is recognised countrywide that there is a lack of social housing, due mainly to the Government not allowing councils to build after the selling off of council properties.

However, the two families shown seem both already to be in council housing and, because they have chosen to have larger families, think they have a right to larger houses. In an ideal world this would be fine, but this is not an ideal world and there are families who are in every sense of the word homeless, but have families/friends who have given them floor space.

They are the ones who should be at the forefront of needing accommodation. They are earning but not able to afford the exorbitant rents for private housing and, because families/friends are willing to help, they are overlooked.

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Perhaps the council should look more closely at individuals who are living in accommodation suitable for families and make it a condition of tenancy that they are re-housed when properties are too large for their immediate needs.

I believe that the Murgatroyd and Hampton families should be happy to have a roof over their heads - there are countless others far less fortunate.