Andy Forbes’ experience of council housing (Letters, 6 July) was rather restricted. My own experience of council housing, the Beecroft Estate in Dunstable, was of well-built houses in open, grassed surroundings. Maintenance was good, with any concerns attended to promptly. The estate was well run from a small office in the council offices. A high proportion, thanks to Thatcher, are now privately owned and, of course, not available to those in need. Doesn’t say too much for the private sector to me.
Ken Aplin
Ampthill, Bedfordshire
• So the rich don’t want to live in the Shard (Flats offered for £50m aren’t selling, 5 July). But 100 yards away, the Manna Centre in Melior Street feeds up to 200 homeless people every day, seven days a week, 51 weeks of the year. The centre also provides housing advice, showers, medical care, clothing, access to computers and much else. They could do with some of the unwanted riches a stone’s throw away.
John Howes
London
• For those wanting a monument for Margaret Thatcher (Report, 7 July), can I suggest that Grenfell Tower stands as a grotesque and tragic symbol of the Tories’ obsession with rolling back the state, privatising key public services and scrapping “red tape”.
Will Horsfall
Manchester
• My great-great-grandfather managed to name his first six children but then his imagination ran out (Letters, 8 July). His seventh was called Septimus and his eighth Octavius.
Chris Birch
London
• As the grandmother of Rylee, Lacey and Neeya, I find Sixtus to be quite ordinary.
Margot O’Keeffe
Leamington Spa, Warwickshire
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