ROSS Hunter’s article in Saturday’s paper on housing problems in Oban takes me back to when I was a young man, more than 50 years ago (‘Chronic housing shortage’ hits health worker, Jun 12).

A supervisor in the firm that I then worked for was appointed manager of the Oban branch, but resigned after six months in digs, being unable to get housing for his family in the area.

It would appear that the situation has only got worse with the passage of time.

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When is the Scottish Government going to address this problem? Some effort has been made in the cities, but less populated areas have been ignored. Leaving things to “market forces “ will only aggravate the problem. The taxation, or lack of it, regarding second homes should have been addressed years ago to reduce the extent of the problem.

Effective action needs to be taken now, and not just the hand-wringing or lip service so that they’re seen to doing something when the reality is different.

Drew Reid
Falkirk