Can someone explain to me why council properties are so cheap to rent?

I hear Brighton and Hove City Council hasn’t enough money to do this and that, yet rent for a two-bedroom council house with two gardens in Moulsecoomb can be £24 a week.

Surely if the council charged a reasonable rate – obviously not as high as private landlords who would charge £950 to £1,050 for council houses in Moulsecoomb – it would have enough money to do all the necessary repairs.

I know many tenants are on benefits but many are in employment and I know of at least one family with two parents in very well paid jobs, with two cars, who pay £34 a week rent to the council.

They have two holidays abroad a year.

Is there a reason why the council doesn’t charge realistic rents for its sizeable, well built, double glazed, centrally-heated properties, which have new front and back doors, fences, kitchens, bathrooms, toilets, even showers?

No wonder most tenants didn’t want to go with housing associations who charge a realistic, though not excessive, rent.

I agree private rents will always be the highest charged but feel the council should charge a proper rent for its homes from now on.

Alan Moore
London Terrace, Brighton