I READ Steve Jones' letter regarding "rents rip-off".

He seems to be under the impression that private tenants receive the full amount of their rent from housing benefits and that "rip-off" landlords are profiting from the benefits system.

He should be aware that the Local Housing Allowance which is paid in Bolton is a set figure based only on the bedrooms required by the tenants and their family circumstances. In many cases, tenants have to make up the shortfall between their Local Housing Allowance and the actual rent payable. Capping rents will not reduce benefits payments but will almost certainly add to the housing shortage by reducing the numbers of private rental properties available since properties in the social sector are insufficient to meet demand.

The majority of private rental landlords are people like myself, who have invested their pension lump sums to provide themselves with an income in retirement. They, quite rightly, expect to have a reasonable return for their investment and if this is prevented by rent capping, they will look elsewhere for investments and will not be purchasing property. Landlords do not make vast fortunes from their rented property. They have to maintain their property to suitable standards, making sure that the property is safe and habitable. They also run a high risk from tenants who run up large amounts of arrears of rent and damage to property and landlords have to pay expensive legal fees to get their property back from tenants who refuse to pay their rent or to move out.

So you see Steve, it is not 'all beer and skittles' for most of us, as you call "rip-off" landlords.

The majority of us charge reasonable rents and are responsible people who care about our tenants. There is no such thing as 'a free lunch' or a 'free roof over your head'. Someone is footing the bill. You would not expect to go to the supermarket and get free groceries. They expect to make a profit on what you buy and so do landlords on their investment. Stop landlord-bashing. The majority of us provide decent homes for people, expecting only a reasonable return on our investment.

Sharron Howard

Buckley Lane

Farnworth