The ‘ghost’ house in Mornington Terrace

• I WAS interested to read about the house owned by Camden in Mornington Terrace and empty for nearly a decade, (Why is £3m ‘ghost’ house still empty? CNJ, January 20).

We have another case at 39 Tottenham Street in Fitzrovia which was acquired by the council in 1976. It was “short-lifed” then and has never been fully renovated. It has been vacant for at least seven years.

The Fitzrovia Neighbourhood Association previously occupied the ground floor and basement as an advice centre and meeting space until it was evicted by the council about five years ago. The upper floors have housed a variety of short-life tenants until they became uninhabitable.

The Fitzrovia Trust made a generous offer to buy the house and convert it to affordable housing in 2013 but were turned down.

Despite being listed the building has gradually deteriorated. Camden gave itself planning permission to convert the upper floors to three flats in 2016 but to date no work has been carried out.

How many other cases are there in the borough which could be housing those in need?

NICK BAILEY
Goodge Street, W1