Letter: History of your house

Sir: Rosalind Russell's piece on the history of London houses ("Who's been living in your house?", 12 April) touches on the fascinating past of some London houses, but implies that researching the history of a house is best left to professional researchers and ignores the wealth of source material available in London local authority record offices and local history libraries.

Most London boroughs' local studies services hold sources useful for house historians, including maps, historic street directories, local rate and taxation records, and visual records. Some produce leaflets outlining sources for the potential house historian. Details of these local services are given in London Local Archives, published by the Greater London Archives Network.

While some readers may prefer to have their house history done for them, it is much more exciting - and considerably cheaper - to do your own research, and have all the satisfaction of discovering the history of your own house for yourself.

DAVID MANDER

Chairman, Greater London

Archives Network

London N22