The article paints a very black picture of the life chances of children who grew up in social housing in the post-war generations.

Well, let me give you a very different story. I was born in 1954 and my early life was spent living with my mother, father and three brothers in two rooms in a private rented house in Farnworth Street, inner Liverpool.

Along with most of our neighbours, my family aspired to live in a council property, with hot water and an inside toilet. After being on the council waiting list for more than a decade, we were offered a flat in Croxteth on the outskirts of Liverpool. We couldn’t believe it - the flat was roomy, had hot water, a gas fire and best of all a decent bath (we were used to a tin bath) and inside toilet. The flat was so different to the old slum we were used to living in.

I left school with very few qualifications, was married early, started a family and was again lucky to get a council house. I eventually managed to get a job with Sefton Council as a filing clerk.

For the past 10 years, I have been chief executive of Trent & Dove Housing, and this year was proud to receive the Housing Heroes chief executive of the year award.

Over 27 years in housing, I have come across a substantial number of senior managers who started their lives in council housing. So there are positive stories of how social housing has helped improve life chances.

We have come a long way in the past 20 years and all agencies should work together to do even more. Together with our tenants, we are part of the solution to social deprivation and not the cause.

Ron Dougan, chief executive, Trent & Dove Housing

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