NOW that Coun Tracey Simpson-Laing is offering a guaranteed 20 per cent profit on all development projects incorporating affordable housing, I shall come out of retirement and start building again (Letters, July 13).

I’m just wondering if this warrant of hers is backed by the council or by her personally.

If the project goes wrong and the expenditure exceeds income, will the lost profits be made up from City of York Council coffers; or will it come from the thousands of pounds of allowances paid each year by taxpayers to the Labour cabinet member for housing? I will need to know the strength of this guarantee of profit before putting my life’s work and savings at risk.

John Jones, Sand Hutton, York.