With reference to Louise Hooper's letter (Apr 17), my heart goes out to genuine people like her and her husband who both work and struggle with constant rising rents, and no chance to get on the property ladder.

Why, in an affluent area are our councils not getting on top of this? It's no excuse that they can't keep building fast enough.

The council should buy some empty properties and refurbish them at a fraction of the cost while creating work for local tradesmen.

Ms Johnson
Hellendoorn Road
Canvey