Gaby Hinsliff (No one should be penalised if they want to carry on working from home, 25 June) fails to mention the numerous arguments against full-time home working used by proponents of returning to the office, such as the damage that home working does to trainees relying on face-to-face coaching and the decline of town and city centres, which puts at risk thousands – perhaps even hundreds of thousands – of jobs that depend on office workers.
One of the worst effects of home working that might change Ms Hinsliff’s rose-tinted view is the severe inflation in house prices caused by city and town dwellers selling their relatively expensive homes and buying in the countryside. Or, worse, buying or renting second homes, and thus exacerbating the severe housing shortage and making it impossible for locals to get their feet on the property ladder or even to rent something half decent. Getting people back into the office for the majority of the working week should be a government priority.
Hugh Brass
Rendcomb, Gloucestershire
