I feel so sorry for our youngsters who can no longer afford a property in which to live.

This is because the Government has failed to keep up with a suitable building programme.

Ten years ago when my parents passed away I had great difficulty selling their five-year-old two-bedroom luxury apartment in a fashionable area of Southend for £30,000. It is now worth £300,000.

The answer to this property crisis is simple.

When the green belt idea was first muted, it was to be a swath of land around each major town for the town's folk to enjoy leisure pursuits, not to cover the whole country causing this disgusting building land famine.

A recent Government report states only 13.5 per cent of the UK is under concrete. So release unlimited agricultural land valued at £5,000 an acre.

For £500 a plot and £70,000 for a new build would mean our young couples could have an affordable place in which to live.

Surely we need homes more than fields, and if this Government won't provide them then get one in that will.

R Pedder
Fairfax Drive
Westcliff