Home truths

IT’S incorrect to say the UK has the highest rate of home owners in Europe (Letters).

At 63.4 per cent, the UK is 25th in Europe, behind France at 64.9 per cent, Spain at 77.8 per cent and way behind Romania with 96 per cent. Switzerland is last at 42.5 per cent.

The misapprehension that Britain is a nation of home owners stems from the Victorian saying that an Englishman’s home is his castle.

It is not unusual in most European countries for working people to own their homes, but it is rarer in the UK, where housing has become a way for the middle classes and developers to fill their boots.

It is not helped by our adherence to feudal land and leasehold laws long discarded in other countries.

DAVID THoRPE, New Malden, Surrey. NOT having a mortgage does not mean you can ‘afford the extras that contribute to a stable family life’ (Letters). Renting is not a cheap option.

My son pays £200 more per month in rent than his next-door neighbour is paying for his mortgage, making it difficult to save for a deposit. ANNIE WYNTER-CRoFTS,

Street, Somerset.