In response to this, I suggest two steps for anyone who thinks we have too much planning control in Britain. The £72m earmarked for affordable homes but sent back to the Treasury ought to have been used to increase housing benefit to prevent homelessness. Such an improvement in sales happened in the case of Nine Elms and it led to Wandsworth council receiving £40m for affordable housing. David WilliamsLeader, Hertfordshire county council• Helen Pidd’s article (The 0% city: how Manchester developers dodge affordable housing, 6 March, theguardian.com) misses an important point about local democracy. This was scrapped by Heath’s government in 1970Kate MacintoshWinchester• Join the debate – email guardian.letters@theguardian.com• Read more Guardian letters – click here to visit gu.com/letters

Source: The Guardian March 06, 2018 17:26 UTC