Hilary Osborne’s article (26 January) on Centre Point, with its infamous history of speculators using it to extract land value, shows how skewed our economy is. Without London’s roads, Tube, railways, buses, cycle lanes and footpaths, the new flats being developed in Centre Point would sell at a fraction of the average price of £3.5m. Location (ie land) value is generated because of public and private investment in production and services which are paid for by all of us. London’s public transport network is crucial for businesses and workers to locate there, and it is paid for by taxpayers from all over the UK, including the poorest of tenants, and by its customers.
Our economy needs a shift in taxes away from production and wages, and on to unearned income from land. Our current tax system punishes hard work and good investments, and rewards landowners for doing nothing other than laying claim to this natural resource.
Heather Wetzel
London
• We should be worried by Barnet council’s treatment of those living on the West Hendon estate (Report, 21 January). This isn’t regeneration, this is redevelopment of the worst kind. Forcing people out of their homes with no offer of a replacement property on the estate where they have lived for many years is shameful. Those who are lucky enough to get into one of the new “affordable” homes are likely to be charged rents of up to 80% of the market rate – that’s not affordable in my book.
As chair of the Barnet Housing Commission, I have been taking evidence from experts and residents from Barnet and elsewhere, including an evidence session on the West Hendon estate. It’s clear there are alternative approaches that can secure much-needed new housing while respecting existing communities. Barnet council, by contrast, seems to want to drive people on low incomes out of their communities. The Housing Commission would back Barnet Labour leader Alison Moore’s call for the council to pledge to rehouse everyone on the estate and to immediately grant all non-secure tenants five-year flexible tenancies. The Housing Commission will be publishing its interim report this March. We’re looking at not just what needs to be done in the immediate but also what can be achieved in the longer term with innovative solutions and political will.
Nicky Gavron AM
Chair, Barnet Labour Group Housing Commission
• Some time ago, there were reports of London homes being bought by wealthy Greeks, looking for a safe place for their largely untaxed savings. I wonder, if those now massively inflated assets were sold and repatriated at the current favourable euro exchange rate, would it help sort out their economy? It would be nice to think that London’s housing crisis could have a small silver lining.
Martin Cooper
Bromley, Kent
