hpc-craig

Rather than banning IO mortgages which (as shown in this thread) people can use sensibly, the Government should pull all SMI and the banks should repo when they want to rather than the gov encouraging them not too. People should be told if you take on more than you can afford and run up massive credit card bills on top then it's tough and it's time to pay for your actions. My view is this is less to do with banks being more responsible but rather to get people to start paying regualary into low interest paying ISA's for 25 years. The banks won't do anything that doesn;t benefit them in some way.

This would be a good idea IMHO. Cardiff airport is a nightmare to get too. We always look at Birmingham/Bristol and don't give Cardiff a thought really. If it were between Newport and Cardiff, on the Railway line, it would be better utilised I would imagine. It will never happen though. Not that it really matters to me as I am petrified of flying and as such go abroad a lot less than I would do if I wasn't. My last flight was from Coventry to Portugal and the return flight was horrendous. Really bad weather, lightning and an aborted landing. Only chose Coventry as I had it in my mind that there was less chance of something going wrong. Interesting Read on Durham Tees Valley's wikipedia page: Passenger numbers peaked in 2006 when the airport was used by 917,963 passengers, but declined to 224,673 in 2010, the lowest level seen at the airport since 1975 It hasn't got a future, but the same is true of many UK airports.

So it is £250,000 to buy this house and it requires renovation. What a bargain. Still it's a good job the current owners didn't buy at the peak, or else it really would appear that they are in trouble: 04/05/2007 £180,000 Beth An May, East Hill, Tuckingmill, Camborne, Cornwall, TR14 8NQ Oh dear. EDIT to add: It appears Property Bee also works with Primelocation. I wasn't aware of this.

The last time I went in there was for a Printer. I run an online business and mine went up in smoke and I needed it there and then. The shocking thing was they had about 12 models on the shelf and only 1 model in stock. I apparently wasn't allowed the ones on the shelf either - I assume the staff get their mits on 'display models' and flog them on eBay. I find them overpriced and the insurance selling is a nightmare only topped by the patronising staff who make no attempt to gauge your level of tech-savvyness and just real off the same script to everyone.

They'll probably treble in that case - 22m Million houses and 1 billion chinese chasing them. That's pent up demand for you!! On a serious note though I was hoping that the MP may have seen the problem. It turns out he's just a debt junkie desperate for his next fix. I mean, He's 37, doesn't pay for his accomodation, has been living with his parents and he doesn't have a deposit. And he must live in one of the most unaffordable places in the UK for young FTB's to buy - really low wages, lack of full time employment, holidya home hotspot for Londoners on mega money. He needs to listen to his constituents, they want house prices to fall. No doubt the 2nd home owner VI's will be 'donating' to him if they don't

Yep, I can think of a couple of people who were really struggling before the rate cuts - mortgage payments were being put on Credit Cards!! Then the cuts and 'things are easier for us now', so I imagined and even suggested to one that this would be the ideal time to over pay the mortgage as rates would not stay low for ever. What happens next? A new car! On credit of course, but it's another thing going out every month and less fuel efficient than the previous vehicle.

I'm not sure if we are into the Fear stage yet, but some people are cottoning on quicker than others. 2 Quick examples if I may. 1. House came on last October @ £129,000. That has moved down to £103,000 over the months and remains unsold. The Neighbour a few doors doors down is clearly not fearful as he has just put his on the market @ £139,000!! It has recently had a new kitchen and bathroom though so is clearly worth the extra £40k. 2. 4 Bed detached that Parents were looking at buying, early 08. Was on at £229,000 back then. Just come back on this week at £212k.

£15k below the 2005 asking price, nice! They forgot to include a floor plan though so I took the liberty of drawing ne for them so people can see what they will get for £65k: |-----|| /| ||-----| Great to see a reduction, but definately still belongs in the 'hilariously over priced' thread.

I agree. People are telling us that House prices won't drop without Higher Interest Rates, but the cost of petrol, food and utilities is rocketing up. I imagine they are going up more every month than a few % points on rates would put their mortgages up. A lot of people are struggling with Fuel bills in particular. People living it up in Hull whilst Communting to London (Location, Location, Location Style). These massive commutes are very common and people will really be struggling, especially as we aren't likely to see any major wage increases for 5 years.

This is why I am leaning towards AV. I would have voted UKIP, but we had a 2 horse in my constituency between the Tories and Labour, so I had to discard UKIP in favour of the Tories. However, whilst I think smaller parties (UKIP in particular) will end up with a larger share of the populations first vote, I don't think they will end up with any more seats. We could be looking at a situation where UKIP increase their share of the first vote (to say 1.3 million), but still don't get any seats and the main parties lose a share of the vote but still retain them, which will be justified because more people said 'they'll do' rather than 'This is the party I want'. A full blown PR based system would surely be better, but it would have to get away from the Parties nominating the MP's they want to a certain constituency.

I monitor Monmouth town and can't say I've been seeing any huge drops, just the usual £3k every 5 months. I imagine it must be out in the sticks where the falls are or the higher end properties. There isn't much in Monmouthshire to sustain high house prices. The 'top jobs' people will have to commute for. Newport is the nearest commute but it is for of public sector jobs. Hereford is too small to have any of the well paid jobs and Gloucester and Cardiff are quite a distance, so any of the higher paid people will be spending a lot on the commute. Wales as a whole relies heavily on the public sector, so I am not surprised to see the falls there. As nice as it is there (when it's dry) houses in Wales are surely some of the most overpriced in the country - Although I know some of you in the South East will say they look cheap!!

I saw it, I had stopped watching it. Flint is such an annoyance that I can't find a word to describe her. There was a couple of people asking taxing questions to Caroline in the audience but Dimbleby did his 'We'll come back to that one' and never did. I *almost* wish Labour had've got back in power. They would have driven this country to the wall and that would have been the end of them. As it is, people will just blame the 'nasty' Tories. And Lib dem voters will flock to the reds. Sadly I think we are on course for a Labour majority at the next election. People just do not want to let go of the debt fuelled 'good times' and I don't think 4 years is long enough to convince them otherwise.

Luigi - Well done on what seems like a pretty good buy. If you are happy with the house and happy with the price, then you won't be shot down - we're all here to get a nice place at a good price, it will happen for some sooner than others. I just hope more estate agents start taking the 'Express Estate Agnecy' stance and lowering prices.

I haven't received one personally but people all across the county have (Gloucestershire), hence the article in the local newspaper. I would agree with Bruce that they are targetting Tory seats. The 6 constituencies in the county are all Conservative with the exception of Cheltenham which is held by the Lib Dems. I'm undecided as to how I will vote in the referendum, but these sort of tactics (delibrately playing on peoples confusion - sounds like a company fleecing the elderly on Watchdog) make me want to vote no. It also makes me wonder how far the Labour camp will go to ensure they get re elected.

Fair enough. Out of interest which party controls your local council? All ours mentioned above are (i believe) Tory run.

If only house prices were cheaper, we wouldn't need to be handing out these flipping grants and benefits to anyone that decides to have a baby. I even heard someone mention that 'childcare allowance' was being reduced. I can't beleive we are paying for people to have their kids looked after. What ever happened to mums staying at home and looking after the Children? Call em cynical but it sounds like the previous Government were eager to get mums back into work so households had 2 wages and could afford a bigger house, thus keeping the bubble going. The more I look, the more obvious it has become that Brown was doing Everything possible to keep house prices up and the ponzi scheme going.

Going back to what Bruce Banner queried in the original post. It seems these 'forms' are NOT from your local authority, but it is actually a marketing campaign from the 'Yes' campaigners in London. It was in our local rag today, so it has obviously been confusing a lot of people, which I guess was the intention. Story: http://www.thisisgloucestershire.co.uk/news/Poll-material-insist-councils/article-3411297-detail/article.html Poll material is not from us, insist councils RESIDENTS are being assured that referendum campaign material posted to homes across Gloucestershire has not come from their local council. Tewkesbury, Cotswold, Cheltenham, Stroud, Gloucester and Forest of Dean district and borough councils are stressing that promotional material for the 'Yes' campaign, for the May 5 voting referendum, is not from them. They say it was sent out by a national 'Yes' campaign group, based in London. Tewkesbury Borough Council's returning officer, Sara Freckleton, said: "We want to make it clear to our residents that we have not issued any campaign mailing and we are not providing support to the 'Yes' or the 'No' campaigns. "The poster and application form is causing confusion among residents who are mistakenly thinking we have issued the publicity. It is also causing confusion for those voters who have already registered for a postal vote with us as it looks like we are asking them to do it again." The mailing causes further confusion because it only offers the chance to register for a postal vote for the referendum – and not the local elections. These are taking place on the same day, apart from in Cheltenham borough, where there are no elections.

Wow, I had no idea Swansea prices were so high. It must be the second home owner effect as I'm sure that local wages are nothing special and the largest employers appear to be Public Sector. Mind you Port Talbot is nearly as bad: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-32868845.html £35,000 for a ground floor flat? I wouldn't even pay half that for the whole house!

Here is a graph from my area showing volumes of 'Newly Marketed Properties' vs 'Sold Properties' over the past 2 years Look at that pent up supply!!

I see a few have tried to give an eductaion already, but the OP doesn't want advice if it isn't along the lines of: "do it now. go for it, it's the best idea". the member brit1234 on MSE always gives sound, well constructed advice, as is seen in that thread. However, as is the case this time the OP doesn't want to hear it as it is not what they want to hear. I wouldn't be surprised to see a thread in a year or 2 from the OP along the lines of "I bought a house, I can't afford it, the government won't help and no one told me it was a bad idea"

Maybe it's a mistake. They have made a few mistakes in their listings. This one for example has a 1 in front of the asking price: http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-33207617.html

A good read on Denmark adn the Euro: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Denmark_and_the_euro Along with us, Denmark are the only EU member that will not be forced into the Euro (I always thought Sweden too, but according to the link above they will have to join at some stage). However, there is a referendum expected sometime this year. It's interesting that every poll in the last year has found the majority saying 'No' to joining. The Swedes seemed keen to acept the Euro during 2008 before reverting back to a no.

Facebook seems to have lost it's steam if you ask me. Only a few of my 'friends' actually update their 'status' on a regular basis. The site seems a lot less active than when I first joined a couple of years ago. Maybe people have just deleted me and I haven't realised.

Road fuel is non essential in terms of commuting to and from work. Either move to where your job is or get a job nearer to your home. It is of course essential in transporting the latest tat from China for the masses.

Very good idea. I Like it. As has been said this isn't about people who rent a house in London during the week and head back 'home' to Yorkshire for the week end. It's about people who own a house and then decide to buy another one somewhere else, Cornwall is the classic example. The young Cornish people cannot afford to buy a place of their own as a lot of the houses in their towns and villages are occupied for 2 weeks a year by greedy bankers. The second home owners oppose any building developments and create 'ghost communities'. I have been a long time supporter of increasing taxation on multiple home owners and this is the classic example that sticks in my mind: http://www.bbc.co.uk/learningzone/clips/conflict-between-local-people-and-second-home-owners-in-cornwall/7239.html I would say at least double council tax on second homes and no rights to oppose building developments. The additional council tax could be spent on building new homes for the locals. P.s. I am far from a socialist, and I would think 99% of the members of this forum would not call themselves a socialist either.