Buy-to-let blues

The report "An academic take on model villages" and leader article "Key to the door" (January 13) highlight the plight of academic and other university staff unable to afford homes near their places of work.

Yet you fail to state one of the major reasons why "university towns and cities tend to be property hot spots" - private landlords buying properties for use as student lets.

Universities could alleviate this problem by accommodating more students in halls of residence, thus releasing homes back on to the market for their staff and other local residents to buy.

Christopher Madeley
Canterbury