I’m sad to see revered Guardian contributors such as Rafael Behr (Winter is here, the Tories are out of control and Sunak is running out of options, 7 December) and Martin Rowson (6 December), and indeed Labour, having a go at the government for abandoning mandatory housebuilding targets.
Have these targets delivered affordable homes for young people, and accommodation for homeless people and those who are badly housed? No, they have not. All they have delivered is fat profits for developers, car-dependent estates on greenfield land, identical developments regardless of location, big detached houses out of the reach of those who most need them, and a catastrophic shortfall of affordable homes.
They have also cemented the disempowerment of communities and their representatives in local government to determine what is best for local needs. Just because Tory MPs in affluent communities are against something doesn’t mean we should be in favour of it.
Isabella Stone
Sheffield
• In prime minister’s questions on 7 December, Keir Starmer made a disparaging reference to the Isle of Wight constituency in connection with the U-turn on housing targets. As it happens, the huge amount of greenfield housebuilding that has taken place over the last couple of years on the island has had nothing to do with helping lower-income people find housing and everything to do with providing second homes for the rich and with lining developers’ pockets. Moreover, the local MP’s stance, I’m sure, has nothing at all to do with anxiety about the next election.
Ursula Hutchinson
Newport, Isle of Wight
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