• I TOTALLY agree with Penny Cloutte regarding maintenance (or none) of Circle 33 property (Tenants’ dilemma: how to get any repairs done, December 1).

The lease I have had with them for 4l years – I pay the rent and maintain the inside, Circle deals with repairs and the outside – has proved to be a very one-sided arrangement in spite of heavy annual increases in rent.

However, I don’t think Circle 33 is exceptional in its dealing with tenants, who they now choose to call customers.

Perhaps even more worrying is a recent aspect of the government’s Budget, which deregulated housing associations, giving them the right to merge with any other bodies and sell their properties to outside landlords.

This could result in a housing association deciding to sell off its street properties to private landlords, resulting in a loss of social housing and an insecure position for tenants who may be forced to accept new, unwanted leases.

This Bill will surely lead to a further loss of social housing when the need is so great.

ANNETTE THOMAS
Bardolph Road, N7