I FIND all the talk of new homes in Warrington town centre rather interesting.

For years we have almost actively stopped building in towns and expanded the outer reaches of Warrington instead.

Now the powers that be seem to have decided that they actually need people living there to keep businesses running and to stop the wave of protests about building on the green belt.

But are all these flats really what is needed?

If I thought normal people would be buying them for first homes, I would be all in favour.

But the reality seems to be that they are bought by landlords who simply want to make money by renting them out.

Certainly this seems to have been the case in Manchester and Liverpool.

I am not sure legally Warrington can stop this from happening as it would stop the dream of first-time house buyers in their tracks.

Because one thing is for sure, the so-called affordable element to lots of the big housing developments currently being constructed in places like Great Sankey, Appleton Thorn and Stretton are far from affordable.

MIKE MCCARTHY Padgate