Rogue landlords are not a plague in just Jaywick, they exist in most deprived areas including Clacton, where rents seem to be abnormally high.

The fact that housing bosses will be given £100,000 to crackdown rogue landlords in Jaywick, according to the Gazette, will not solve the problem in my opinion.

Our council, with no or negligible housing stock and responsibility for accommodating subsequent evicted tenants, is unlikely to close down the substandard rentals of non-compliant rogue landlords.

I think one of the reasons some rented accommodation is or has become so shamefully substandard, is because of lack of inspection by council officers, as indicated by the following incident.

About four years ago a young friend, in full time employment, and his pregnant partner, with no permanent home for a few days, desperately sought housing.

They were given a private address since there was no council housing available.

This was a compact single glazed window bedsit, with no heating, part of the plaster board in the bathroom ceiling was hanging down, and the walls everywhere were covered in black mould. All for £400 per month.

They moved in provisionally, soon to discover that the building was infected with vermin.

Both the owner of the flats and leasehold manager declined to take remedial action because each thought it was the other’s responsibility.

Michael Joyce

Broadstrood, St Osyth