THE claim by Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing that the conversion of terraced houses and former shops to single-person flats is somehow responsible for the high cost of family housing is utter nonsense. (We never agree, Letters, July 24). In my 35 years as a house builder I have created far more new family dwellings than single-person units. The same is true of the vast majority of house builders.

Small flats have been created as a direct response to Government policy and market demand for desperately needed dwellings specifically designed for the huge increase in single-person households over the last three decades.

The real reason for the current unaffordability of housing is to do with supply and demand and the wholesale selling off of council houses, which started long before Mrs Thatcher came to power and continued under both Conservative and Labour Governments.

If Government had insisted all the proceeds of these sales be ploughed back into providing replacement homes we would not have seen such house price inflation.

Moreover, if Government had accepted its responsibility to maintain the social housing stock instead of trying to force people like me to do its job for it then the house building industry would not have ground to one almighty halt.

Of course, a lot of former council house tenants did very well on the resale of their cut-price bargain, but we never hear Labour councillors calling for them to make any contribution to provide new affordable homes. Neither do we see Tracey Simpson-Laing or other people like her so keen on the affordability policies offering to give up 50 per cent of their income to ease the housing crisis.

It is only the likes of us house-builders that are expected to pay for the incompetence of Government.

Well, I’ve got news for Tracey Simpson-Laing. We are not going to do it. If you want more affordable homes, then you build them.

John Jones, (Soon to be ex house builder), Sand Hutton, York.

• My frustration with affordable homes was recently made worse by Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing, who clearly is not looking at the real picture.

We have built a significant number of new homes over recent years, and fortunately due to the number of homes on our sites have avoided the affordable homes which we are expected to build at a loss. We often look at new sites in the city and in surrounding villages before they come on the open market.

When we carry out appraisals of these sites, landowners cannot believe that we have to make Section 106 payments and build affordable homes at a loss, and in turn the land for these homes is also valued at nil. Often landowners prefer to either not sell the land in the hope of a change in policy or choose to try and build fewer homes.

I left school at 16 under a Thatcher Government and was on a Youth Training Scheme in 1983, where I was paid £25 per week. I chose not to go out too often, worked overtime when I could and took on weekend work, so by the age of 21 I had saved a deposit for my first house – in other words, I worked for what I wanted.

And here lies the difference; we have a younger generation who have holidays, store card debt, nice cars, nights out, taxis, takeaways, alcohol, and teenage pregnancies. These young people are not prepared to save, plan their lives or work for a home – they want what they can get and want it now. So if Tracey would address the real problems in society she would realise that the affordable free housing grab by councils is starting to backfire and there will be a huge shortfall in these homes – more so now due to the credit crunch.

David Rogers, Managing director, Rogers Homes (Yorkshire) Ltd, Newton Lodge, Everingham, York.