TeddyBear

Timbuk3 - could you help with where can keep an eye on the price to insure against default on Gilts?

Thank you for this post Optobear. I haven't been around these parts for a good while myself. It's where I once came for information that appeared well in advance of when it did in the media explained in a way that I could understand. I have not taken so much interest in finance in recent years and thought I'd have a look around to see if China and Japan are still the major foreign holders of Gilts and couldn't find that information anywhere anymore. I had no idea that the Bank Return had changed. If you follow up on this post I will be looking out for it.

doubt you could get a visa that quick though. Think they've brought in fingerprinting for visas now? Talking of Russkies, certainly getting no deflation on my gas bill. Got a smart meter now and price is shocking. Probably need to move away from British Gas.

Mumsnet thread - someone getting no viewings in SW16 - if only she'd pop over here to view the stats... http://www.mumsnet.com/Talk/property/2254595-Few-viewings-and-no-offers-its-the-time-of-year-right

I was of the understanding that continuing with foreign aid is part of a "sales" budget to show the world that the UK is fine,dandy, strong and rolling in it so that others keep buying our Gilts?

Never heard of her, vaguely saw something about the shirt. I try not to pay too much attention to the mass media. To me setting up men and women to clash is just another part of divide and rule, distract people from who is actually controlling them and their access to money.

I don't get why the media are going on about this today. I heard this as part of a the overall half hour programme and it sounded like one of the least contraversial things he has ever said. What makes me smile is this is probably one time you could actually "blame" foreigners yet they haven't been mentioned, as I would wager that Claridges' policy is mostly down to not wanting to "offend" their rich clientele from countries where every part of a woman is to be covered let alone her breasts. I think the average "older" Brit as described is really not that bothered by this and would just ask to be moved if they were in eyeline and didn't wish to be.

I have lived in flats where the freeholder managed and another where there there was a managing agent, what is relevant is it is a third party who is doing the chasing, rather than you having to do it, not so uncomfortable in a large block perhaps but difficult when you are cheek by jowl in a conversion.

These have to be the most tulip bulb flats I've seen yet! One bed at £414 K, + stamp duty = £426,420 current rent around 1k per month. That would be a gross yield of under 3% a month on 12 month full occupancy, once you've paid your service charges, you can take another 0.5% off I expect. Handy for money launderers needing to show a loss on something perhaps? 2 bed at £782k =stamp duty = 821K, prob rent about £1400 per month. 2% gross yield on full occupancy, again a big loss for service charge in a building with concierge and lift no doubt. Any sort of a mortgage and you are running at a loss, let alone any voids, landlord insurance, cost of evicting a dodgy tenant every now and then...

Couldn't agree more, all just so shallow. Where were the numbers? The woman who could not sell and re-mortgaged - where was the real story? Why could she not sell? Overpriced? Lease problems? Who was lending this 55 year old money and how much? What were the interest payments going to be in comparison to the drop in price she would need to make in order to sell, the people buying BTL up North - what were their margins, what interest rates could they sustain?...so much shallow reportage for nothing other than to scare people into thinking this is the new normal coming to a town near you right now...

Leasehold advisory service are very helpful. Keep expecting them to get cut. Long may they last. Surveyors also get a lot of business from the extension game. Freehold flat not necessarily more desireable than leasehold where you have several flats in a building sharing freehold, if you have a difficult neighbour or one that has run out of money it can be really hard to negotiate repairs/live next door to difficult and/or person you feel sorry for as they are broke so it can be helpful to have a freeholder/managing agent who has to deal with that, although many of course are rubbish and overcharge

Sold at the top of the market, April 2014 - but presumably also sold their previous place at top of market. Sad how desperate these journos get that they must all be a poor person's Liz Jones.

Thanks for updating. Miss the great auction threads there used to be on here!

I don't know but he genuinely seemed very confused and said he'd get it looked into and get back to the man. In the same half hour a man phoned in upset that his kid could not get pork sausages for lunch at his primary school, Clegg, very proud about his hot meals policy, also seemed really bemused and unaware that some non-faith schools serve only Halal meat. Now before anyone shouts at me for being EU - hating/racist etc for mentioning this, quite the opposite, it is just pointing out how far removed he appears to be from knowing much about anything other than his comfortable upper middle class life. I am not a UKIP voter, I have studied enough history to know that parties like this that start out seemingly quite reasonable can too often herald the start of Facist regimes and thus are potentially extremely dangerous. Given this, it is vital to address the concerns and wants of those who are attracted to UKIP voting, not ignore them and denigrate them as stupid, change resistant and racist while as a leader your class are sitting profiting from your cheap builders, cleaners, barristas, "interesting" ethnic cafes, easy travel to your continental holiday home, HPI,rising demand for your BTLs, paying for private school where English is majority language and your kids get fed what you would feed them, jumping NHS queues with your private health insurance etc... Where does EU hating come into this? Neither the caller nor I expressed EU hate. There is a trade in marrying EU to have the right to stay in the UK and bring one's dependents over too, unfortunately, as well as those willingly/knowingly entering into these agreements, trafficking is now an issue, politicians need to be aware. Here are the rules https://www.gov.uk/family-permit

I heard Nick Clegg on his LBC phone in when a man rang up to say that, as a Brit, he cannot get a visa for his South American spouse as he does not earn enough (think threshold is set at 18k?) whereas her friends/family married to EU citizens can come into the UK with their spouses no questions asked. Clegg didn't seem to even know about this. It's the sort of thing I've heard Farage highlight though. This is another reason that UKIP do well, because Farage knows all of this while Cleggy etc seem to find being informed about this sort of stuff beneath them.