I HAVE written to both the local council and the housing minister, with regard to homelessness. As one who has been homeless myself three times in the past 10 years, I think I know far more than any of the members of both. But in the past they have totally ignored me, so this time I am sending them letters.

The solution is so simple as to be too obvious to middle class people (I was brought up middle class, so have an inkling as to what I am saying). They should and can, pay all housing benefits direct to the landlord. When I was homeless and sleeping on a bench in a park in central Southampton, I was told by an officer from the Street Homeless Dept. that some members of the council had done a 20-minute walk round the centre, at 11pm and found 17 people sleeping rough. He agreed with me when I said, that I would put a nought on that (170). He not only agreed, but said he knew it was far higher.

I was helped by H2o and then Two Saints, but in the end I had to find the flat I am now living in myself as I, like the majority, do not qualify for help from the council. That is one reason why so many of us slip through the net.

Peter J Newbey

Maybush