Letter: Leasehold aesthetics

Sir: In choosing Hampstead Garden Suburb to demonstrate the virtues of the leasehold system in preserving the visual integrity of urban areas, Martin Richardson (Letters, 2 March) seriously undermines his argument.

The majority of properties in Hampstead Garden Suburb are already enfranchised under the 1967 Leasehold Reform Act. The visual integrity of the area has been maintained by the Hampstead Garden Suburb Trust.

The Housing and Urban Development Bill includes proposals for such schemes of management to be set up. If Hampstead Garden Suburb is anything to go by, the schemes will do as much to protect the visual character of the areas as any leasehold schemes.

Yours faithfully,

RUTH EVANS

Director

National Consumer Council

London, SW1