I read with concern the front-page article on homelessness (The Argus, November 9).

Everybody in Brighton and Hove must realise expansion of the city is not possible and there are few undeveloped sites within its boundaries. There will never be sufficient homes in the near future, if at all. What is important, therefore, is to ensure all available accommodation is utilised and, in this regard, Brighton and Hove City Council has a very poor record.

For the past 20 years, there has been a minimum size standard for rooms in houses in multiple occupation. Those need to be brought to a level consistent with the expectations of tenants, landlords and other housing providers. Only the council insists on retaining those standards and, with the registration scheme for houses in multiple occupation due for implementation in April 2002, many small units of accommodation will be closed by the council to the detriment of both landlords and tenants.

Instead, the council should be exploring ways in which this accommodation can be used as it is. One wonders why this local authority seeks, even with the homelessness crisis, to close them despite objections.

The council continues to auction its own stock of properties that are ideal for conversion into residential units. It is quite wrong for it to claim a crisis, sell off its own stock and then complain about the lack of affordable property. It also has other properties left derelict when they could be made into useful housing.

Planning policies are wrong: Landlords will not convert properties only to find portions of them must be given over to social housing and the remainder be sold or let at much higher prices or rents to take account of the cost of social housing.

It is possible for local authorities to make up the difference between the reference rent for housing benefit and the actual rent required by landlords to enable those who cannot afford the rents to be able to access the properties. It is a much cheaper option than paying bed-and-breakfast or outhousing people in other towns.

I challenge the council to take up these matters and act, for once, in the interests of both landlords and their tenants.

-Mike Stimpson, Chairman, Southern Private Landlords' Association, Brighton