Brighton and Hove City Council recently claimed it can no longer bring council-owned living accommodation to a reasonable standard because it lacks the cash to make the necessary improvements.

The council tenant/leaseholder is asked to comment upon a number of options to resolve this problem, most of which involve transferring management from the council to a third party, ie a housing association.

This supposed dilemma poses one major question. Why has our council been charging uneconomical rents for so many years?

It should be obvious to anybody with an ounce of brain that any rent charged for any property has not only to repay its initial capital outlay but also fund all future maintenance and improvements plus profit.

Any landlord who ignores these basics is either incompetent or stupid and will eventually find themselves in the position our council is in today, unable to meet commitments.

Those in charge of council housing will no doubt blame the Government for their predicament and this raises two more questions - who in their right mind would agree to manage a housing project knowing red-tape will eventually bankrupt them and who could trust a government that refuses to allow councils to set an economical rent for their housing stock?

There is a simple solution. Increase council house rents to a sensible level and use the extra income to start the required improvement project.

And get rid of the stupid people who created this problem.

-Gerald E. Howard, Hove