You report "the average house in Sussex will currently cost you £217,293..." but that "...there are still a few pockets like Hastings where reasonably priced property is available" (The Argus, March 2).

This needs explaining - building costs are much the same throughout the county. It is more costly to live in Brighton than in Hastings, of course, because the price of land is higher in the more popular place.

But this too, needs explaining, because land, like air, costs nothing to produce and was made by nobody.

It existed before anyone came on the scene and logically, ought to be as free as the air.

Until this is understood, young couples will be priced out of housing and we will have to find ways of providing "affordable" housing for key workers and the like.

And this is yet another thing that needs explaining. Shouldn't key workers be paid enough to enable them to live near their work?

Which raises a further question. Why are teachers and nurses more essential than shopkeepers and the people who keep the drains flowing?

If we can't answer these questions, is it any wonder the problem persists from one century to the the next?

-Henry Law, Brighton