Letters: Let the housing market collapse

Treading the boards

Sir: As a teacher, I was sorry Lloyd Evans did not include school productions in his excellent assessment of the cultural devastation inflicted by Covid-19 (‘Staged’, 3 July). While cancellation of West End shows is a tragedy, far more damage will be done to the thousands of children whose one chance to watch or perform in a play or musical has been taken away. These humble, often cheerfully disastrous, amateur productions bring pupils together in a way nothing else can.

W. Sydney Robinson

Oundle, Northamptonshire

Big bad builders

Sir: I enjoyed Liam Halligan’s comprehensive assessment of the appalling state of the UK building industry and the dire quality of much of what they produce (‘The house mafia’, 26 June). He makes the damning observation that buyers of new-build properties have fewer consumer rights than if they were buying a toaster.

He could have added that new houses are predominantly sold by the largest housebuilders under the National House Building Council (NHBC) scheme. The existence of the scheme means that buyers are unable to make claims against builders under section 1 of the Defective Premises Act 1972. This is because section 2 of the Act specifically excludes ‘approved scheme constructions’ such as that offered by the NHBC. I suggest that the law be amended to give buyers the choice of whether they want to purchase their home with the protection afforded by the Defective Premises Act 1972 or under an ‘approved scheme construction’ such as the NHBC’s.

The introduction of competition into housebuilding would also be facilitated if self-builders were able to purchase plots from volume builders if they failed to develop plots within an agreed time frame.

Paul Dawson

London SW19

Crazy prices

Sir: Having bought my first house in 1980, a three-bedroom Victorian end of terrace for £20,000 — at the time equivalent to two years’ salary for a skilled aircraft fitter — I have watched the housing market’s stratospheric price rises with alarm.