The Charlie Ratchford Centre site which is being redeveloped

• YOUR report about people being forced to live outside the borough makes some good points; not least about people who do not earn enough to afford new flats, (People forced out of Camden by ‘lack of affordable housing’, April 8),

There is another area which was mentioned, about vulnerable people being placed in HMOs, houses in multiple occupation. It seems that very few of the landlords for this kind of property have the necessary registration lodged with Camden.

The fee for this is not unduly heavy but a requirement of registration is, I think, that the landlord has to instal fire doors and fire alarms connected to mains electricity.

They also have to have an annual gas safety inspection certificate. There may well be other requirements, such as fire blankets and extinguishers.

Many of these properties may have been acquired on a “buy to let” basis so either the tenant, or the council, pay a figure which the former would find difficult to afford.

The difficulty for many tenants is that landlords do not accept applications from people who need to apply for housing benefit because this would show the council that the property is unregistered!

One of the effects of this situation is that where landlords have bought on a council estate those units may well present a fire-risk to the block.

And since landlords do not want their tenants to be visible they will ensure that they do not go on the register of electors; resulting in hundreds of people being unable to vote.

CHRISTOPHER MASON, NW1