Sir.–In last week’s Gazette, you published a letter from Mrs Roche regarding the terrible situation her daughter and son-in- law have been put in by the council’s housing department.

Your readers may recall that I recently discovered that 3,800 people had been removed from the council’s housing waiting list in one go as part of the council’s switch over to a new allocation system. Mrs Roche’s letter highlights many of the issues that I’ve been concerned with over the council’s handling of this move.

I would like to, through your newspaper, urge residents to check with the council that they are still on the waiting list and if they have been removed to demand to be reinstated at the same position that they left the list.

If people continue to be dissatisfied with the council’s response I would suggest that they write a letter to the council headed “Official Complaint”. This would ensure that the letter will be treated as a complaint and dealt with according to a set timetable. –Councillor Sean Keating South Ham Basingstoke.

Sir.–I don’t know Mrs Roche or her daughter but reading her letter in last week’s Gazette reminded me of similar council administration problems that seriously affected my daughter some months ago.

If the housing department was notified in writing of a change of address and the records were not amended, it is very unfair that, as a result, Mrs Roche’s daughter should lose her place on the housing register. This is a very severe penalty for her to have to suffer for someone else’s failure. We are talking here about people’s homes. What happened to the British sense of fair play?

I would like to believe that the housing department staff have already dealt fairly and responsibly with this matter and reinstated Mrs Roche’s daughter to her deserved place on the list. If they haven’t, come on council – your mistake, your failure. Please look into this and do the right thing.

–Alan Whitefoot, Millard Close, Basingstoke.