The issue of affordable housing has been in the news a lot recently and it is a shame that more low-cost housing has not been developed in Brighton and Hove.

The council has a reasonable amount of power delegated to it under the Localism Act and also owns or has influence over a significant chunk of property in the city.

It often seems to lack the direction necessary to make an impact on providing much-needed affordable housing in our area.

More office developments are being planned or approved despite the rhetoric that has come from this administration and plans are often being approved for even more luxury housing developments.

I agree with Selma Montford (Letters, May 5) that the council administration has missed opportunities to provide quality low-cost housing for residents on the sites available.

At Circus Street, Edward Street, the New England Quarter and elsewhere, the council could have done more to provide safe and secure accommodation by making use of its planning and housing powers.

There appears to be too much of an emphasis on providing more offices and this was illustrated by the details of the City Plan.

What sometimes appears to be residential space is often an illusion because it has commercial office space hidden behind the facade.

We should be moving in the direction of building more affordable housing instead of caving in to the demands of those developers who want to build yet more office buildings and expensive apartments.

Rob Heale, Chatham Place, Brighton

Your welcome feature on the housing rental market in Brighton and Hove shines a spotlight on the need for “rights for renters” to protect people in the private rented sector, alongside a programme to build council housing (“Generation rent causes huge rise in house rental market,” The Argus, May 13).

Housing is undoubtedly at the heart of Brighton and Hove residents’ concerns and, in large part, the private rented sector is out of control.

Letting fees are a scandal – sometimes over £300, which is a huge amount to find on top of a deposit.

That’s why I’m pleased to be a top sponsor of an amendment to a Bill in the House of Commons to stop letting agents charging fees.

We need other rights for renters, too; at the bare minimum, all local authorities should run landlord accreditation schemes and, beyond this, we need a national register of landlords.

People looking for somewhere to rent need to know who they can trust and to be guaranteed minimum standards so properties are high quality, safe and efficient.

But we won’t solve the housing crisis unless we address the lack of affordable homes too.

Successive governments have presided over a withering away of England’s affordable housing stock.

We urgently need a commitment from Government to replace all affordable homes lost through right to buy policies.

I’ve tabled another amendment requiring precisely that.

Central Government must put direct capital investment into housing, and also fully lift the cap on local authority borrowing so that councils can build more affordable homes for our city.

I hope other politicians will support these changes too.

Caroline Lucas, Green MP for Brighton Pavilion