COLIN HALL suggests if Oliver House achieves a sale of £3 million-plus and the money is ringfenced, it could be used for the benefit of young, poor and homeless people (Letters, March 23).

When Margaret Thatcher announced the right-to-buy scheme, one may have used similar arguments.

We know how that went, with 1.7 million people now on waiting lists for council housing.

Approaching the sale of Oliver House through an economic prism ignores the impact such a disposal has on the character of York.

Any responsible administration should instead have a vision that facilitates a mix of people of different ages, incomes and ethnicities thriving in affordable, sustainable tenures.

Oliver House will be a symbolic test in whether York follows the neo-liberal agenda of the free market or has a wider, broader vision that provides decent housing local people can afford.

The decision on Oliver House has been deferred until after the election, but in the meantime provides a useful barometer on housing priorities in the forthcoming election.

Richard Bridge, Holgate Road, York.