AS one whose working life is devoted to creating centrally-located housing, I nevertheless feel that Brian Page's piece on the alleged unmitigated benefits of city centre flat developments requires a response ("By popular demand", Property Press, November 18).

His first claim is that flats are a good thing because "they are a cheaper alternative" to houses. That argument is immediately undermined by his promotion of a development in The Mount, where a one-bedroom flat costs £175,000. There are plenty of two-bedroomed houses in York for less than that.

And what was that about "the derelict shell of the old Probate office"? (rescued, according to Brian, by being turned into flats). It may have been an old-fashioned office but it was hardly derelict. Methinks the gentleman overstates his case.

Yes, Brian, we know there is demand, but how much of that is coming from speculators hoping to make a killing? Hardly a basis for a balanced and stable society, and there is already evidence from cities not too far away that you can have too much of a good thing.

And just for the record, the Living Over The Shop project, which operates nationally and is funded by the Office of the Deputy Prime Minister, was set up to provide flats for rent on a not-for-profit basis.

Ann Petherick,

Living Over The Shop,

Bootham, York.

Updated: 11:09 Wednesday, November 24, 2004