Letter: Priced out of town

Sir: If the Government is serious about encouraging "Sierra Man" to adapt to urban living (report, 14 January), it would do well to look at the most obvious reason for many not living in an urban setting. It is not an aspiration to live near the country but rather the inability to afford to live in the city.

Medium incomes are often not sufficient to rent or buy in the private sector in city areas. The "points for poverty" system practised by inner city council housing departments reserves social housing for those who are homeless or living in bed and breakfast for months or even years, pushing the price of private accommodation even further up. Is it any wonder that the term "urban ghetto" exists?

Only by incorporating an inclusive social housing policy (one that does not focus exclusively on those in dire need) will we see the kind of urban environment Richard Rogers so rightly aspires to see.

RAYMOND ALLEN

Oxford