I READ with interest the recent articles and letters regarding the formation of a local party for local people. The recent furore seems to have been sparked by the social housing shortage, which is apparently all the fault of "incomers".

I would suggest however, that the richer members of York society are just as guilty and that it's their avariciousness that is also to blame. I had three landlords as a student - two were Yorkshire born and bred and the third was an incomer. Of these three, only the incomer did not own more than one rental property.

My current landlord is also local and owns between eight and ten properties. Now who's guilty of pushing up house prices?

My husband and I both have professional jobs, both contribute to the economy of York (and no, we're not taking jobs away from local people - all you need is a degree on our particular discipline) and yet we could not get a mortgage for more than £60,000. We are resigned to the fact that we are going to have to rent forever.

The kind of sectarianism that the new political party suggests is not the answer: we need to get past petty squabbling and realise that the problem is not incomers but greed, pure and simple.

Name and address supplied.

Updated: 10:05 Tuesday, September 06, 2005