Sir: George Young confirms that the Department of the Environment
has given no serious thought to the architectural side- effects of 'leasehold reform', nor formulat- ed any practical proposals for the long-term conservation of the historic estates in cen- tral London (Letters, 31 October). Both the examples he cites support my argument. Pimlico is noticeably less well- maintained than the adjoining Grosvenor Estate in Belgravia. Much of the stucco detail has fallen off and terraces are disfig- ured by ugly roof extensions, UPVC replacements for sash windows and Ken- tucky-Fried Georgian doors.
The Alleyn Estate in Dulwich has until now benefited from a Management Agree- ment under Section 19 of the 1967 Act. But, as I pointed out in my article, such management schemes were only workable because ground landlords largely paid for them. If the Department of the Environ- ment intends to eliminate ground landlords who is going to finance and run such schemes in the future?
I do not accept that leasehold is an 'out- of-date' system of tenure. On the contrary, it is a great lost opportunity that it was not adopted for council house sales. Leasehold would have been cheaper, so would not have bankrupted as many of the pur- chasers, and leasehold management would have protected the vast public investment in such property and prevented the appalling visual degradation that has over- taken many well-designed council houses. John Martin Robinson
8 Doughty Mews, London WCI
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