Sir, There is a shortage of housing in the Vale of White Horse.

The Grove Airfield development, due to get 2,500 housing units, has been delayed for more than ten years. This has mainly been due to the inability to finalise the Section 106 agreement between the district council, the county council and the developers.

The agreement finalises the details of the development, the amount of affordable housing that will be provided, and what other items the developer will pay for such as schools, road infrastructure, community facilities, etc. Central Government has made available £1m to the Vale district council to help progress large- and medium-sized housing projects.

I have been informed by Anna Robinson, strategic director at the Vale, that the target date for signing the Grove Section 106 agreement is April 30 this year. There are knock-on effects from delays in housing projects on homelessness. There is less affordable social rented housing in the Vale to take people off the housing register, and to house homeless people in urgent need of accommodation.

Thus, at present, homeless people may be sent to Oxford, for example, away from their community.

I would suggest that the following measures are done by the Vale: l Ensure that Section 106 agreements are signed in a timely manner:

Ensure that house building on major projects is well project managed so that houses are built in line with agreed build profiles over the lifetime of the project

Maximise the amount of affordable social rented housing provided by new housing projects

Bear down on homelessness in the Vale which has started to increase in the last couple of years.

Dr Les Clyne

Mattock Way

Abingdon