It’s time we gave up on Thatcher’s home-owning dream

I believe that the current housing crisis can be traced back to Margaret Thatcher selling off council housing at a considerable discount. It was unforgivable not to provide replacements for the sold-off stock (“Will Angela Rayner’s housebuilding lose Labour the next election?”, Thursday 12 December).

But the programme also created an expectation of homeownership for all that had never existed before.

Until Thatcher, it was an aspiration to own one’s home, but many were satisfied with renting well-designed council houses at a reasonable rent. What was created instead was an unsustainable cycle of house price inflation, driven by the removal of affordable rental properties for those on lower pay.

Some will argue that it should be everyone’s right to own their own home – but is it reasonable, practical or sustainable? It really doesn’t seem it from where we are at the moment. We need a campaign to put the “ownership-for-all” genie back into the bottle. Difficult but necessary.

The European model shows that owning your own home isn’t the only way.

Tim Sidaway

Hertfordshire

About the housing crisis, Chris Packham has got the balance exactly right (“Labour’s housing targets aren’t just shortsighted – they’re suicidal”, Thursday 12 December). He recognises that there is a crisis – but wants to avoid the wholesale destruction of the green belt.

The government should consider all options before embarking on the demolition of the relatively unspoilt areas, which would likely result in further depletion of wildlife, much of which is already on a knife’s edge.

There are a myriad of brownfield sites that can potentially be built on, and untold thousands of empty residential properties that could be refurbished.

In my own area, the local council has built a shiny new multi-storey car park which, last time I counted, contained seven vehicles in the middle of the day.

If I could tell from its inception that this project would be a white elephant in the making and that a residential block would have been much more logical, then why didn’t the council?

David Felton

Crewe

The government’s planning shake-up is a necessary step to tackling the UK’s chronic housing shortage (“Labour outlines housing shake-up as 1.5m new homes to be built in next five years”, Thursday 12 December).

Yet, the lack of specificity around how their ambitious housebuilding targets will be achieved is concerning. Without concrete mechanisms in place, such plans are merely wishful thinking.

It is also crucial that we consider what types of homes will be built. Affordable, high-quality housing should be a priority, particularly for first-time buyers. Local councils must be equipped with the tools and resources to not just meet quantitative targets but to create communities that thrive.

It is time for a collaborative effort between government, developers and local authorities to bring meaningful change to our housing landscape.

Alastair Majury

Dunblane, Stirlingshire

It is hardly a surprise that the Maori community is in protest after the events of 14th November (“Why New Zealand’s Maori are fighting to save an 1840 treaty involving the crown”, Thursday 12 December).

It seems unfair to change a law that has been in place for nearly 200 years without even consulting the people whom it will affect, such as the Maori!

When will governments learn to respect Indigenous populations who inhabited countries long before settlers – invaders – arrived?

Verity Scroggs

Newcastle