• WHILE it is laudable for Sadiq Khan to wish to house all Londoners, we should look at the human cost to those who would have to live in these new homes.

Stratford is a classic example of this policy, closely followed by Camden Council.

It fills up any green space such as Brill Place or the Regent’s Park estates to fulfil the farce of HS2, and similarly at Stratford with a range of different towers at 360 persons per acre with some higher than Grenfell Tower with no green play space or car parking (to discour­age motoring) and an almost universal 4ft bal­cony imposed by planners.

These tiny balconies are no use for anything and in a pandemic lockdown must be a nightmare with their glass fronts.

Le Corbusier in Marseilles – the architect and inventor of high rise housing in the 1930s and 1940s – was far more altruistic, providing play areas and creches on the roof, shops and community centres within the building and even a swimming pool. The balconies were 12ft x 6ft.

When I worked at the GLC in the 1970s we built similar balconies and some tenants liked sunbathing in the nude on them because they had blinker walls for privacy.

They could also grow plants and keep pets there. Children had space to play. High rise flats in London should have one floor devoted to community space for youngsters to play and where teenagers could play billiards, etc.

The trouble with planners and the leaders of the council is that they may live in low density houses with gardens and have no concept of the mental stress of living at 360 persons per acre with only a 4ft glass balcony. The temptation to jump off such a balcony must be great.

NICHOLAS WOOD, NW3