LATEST reports are now saying that UK has never had it so bad in that our young people are now being forced into renting a home rather than owning their own.

Well let me tell you this, I, at aged 70 and now living in a council-run sheltered home, have rented private and council property ever since I first left home at 17-and-a-half to join the military.

Since then, I forget just how many private flats or bedsits I have had since first being demobbed back in 1971 – not just in Bournemouth but also in Poole and even as far as in Northallerton and Darlington. Not to mention Hamburg, Germany. Over those many years of my existence, within UK I have had to reside in such circumstances that I wonder often why I have not written a book.

Back in early 1980, I had my first chance of obtaining a mortgage and owning my own home. Then alas the recession came and I lost it all. I was soon back to private renting.

Owning our own home is just a UK dilemma: it does not occur on the continent. Within Germany alone, most people rent and do not get tied down with long-term commitments. They much prefer to spend their money holidaying instead.

The difference being is that on the continent and especially in Germany, private accommodation is fairly regulated: both for the costs and condition. In UK, private landlords are allowed to freely inflate their rent, offer bad conditions and in many cases break all rules when it comes to safety.

It's no wonder why so many young people need to purchase their own home when renting in UK often goes back into Dickensian times.

CHRISTINE PETERS, Wellington Road, Bournemouth