LETTER: Housing strategy rooted in denial

We are being told that building is necessary because there is a shortage of houses.
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The 2011 census tells us that 41,724 households in the Horsham area have more bedrooms than people, while only 1,216 households live in accommodation with fewer bedrooms than people. County-wide, the ratio of under-occupation to over-occupation is 24 to 1.

Nationally, 2-4 per cent of the stock is empty and Horsham must be at or near the bottom of the list of areas needing inward investment. In West Sussex the Coastal regions would have more claim.

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The whole point of having policy is that it should be based on an overview, as well as reflect the wishes of local people.

Councils and councillors are ignoring the real problems of policy being driven by profiteers, under occupation due to houses being used for investment, environmental destruction and prices being manipulated upward by a deliberate cheap lending policy.

A strategy rooted in denial can not be democratic nor wise.

Alan Sloan

Forest Road, Colgate