Shamus

In town earlier (Saturday lunchtime)and a man in his 30’s was being attended to by shopping centre security as he laid passed out on the ground. In 20mins or so no ambulance staff had arrived. One of the staff there commented that there was very long delays for ambulances.

Was here on this site in the early days. Dipped out of the housing market in 2005 after renting out our house while in Canada for a year. This proved expensive as had to use a management company and a window needed replacing due to an 'accident'! Sold the house a few months later to the tenants at the time and this gave us a chance to live in some different areas. Did purchase again in 2009 but stock was terrible a bit like now. Bought a small house but in hindsight should have bought something bigger. Moved again in 2013 and doubled the mortgage at the time to afford a house double the size. Now in 2022 we are trying to move again... Not worried about the high prices as our home has gone up as well - the key here is that the mortage is pin money now (after lot's of overpayments) and hopefully we will not need one moving forward... It was impossible to second guess all of the props and government actions which kept prices so high. I think house prices will still fall a bit and also inflation will erode house prices going forward but it will take a time for wages to catch up.

So angry to hear this. It's totally ********. Will this almost double current prices - insane! You will own nothing and be happy...

Basingstoke.

We have just sold our house very quickly, problem now is finding somewhere else which represents reasonable value for money when compared to our present home!

lived in a Travelodge for 22 years By Paul Stokes11 September 2007 • 12:01am David and Jean Davidson in their Travelodge room‘This is our home. We have everything we need’ For most people, a cut-price weekend away in a Travelodge hotel or an overnight stay to break up a long journey is enough. Life near the fast lane But one couple found they enjoyed not having to cook, clean or do the washing up so much that they have lived in one of the roadside hotels for 22 years. David and Jean Davidson in their Travelodge room‘This is our home. We have everything we need’ Pensioners David and Jean Davidson found living in a Travelodge hotel was a cheaper option than an old people's home and have never looked back. They experienced their first night in one of the roadside hotels in 1985, when they drove to visit an elderly aunt in Staffordshire. They enjoyed it so much that four months later, when that relative died, they decided to ring the changes. They turned their back on their flat in Sheffield in favour of a Travelodge on the A1 in Newark, Notts. Ten years ago they transferred their allegiance 15 miles south to take up residence in a new Travelodge, which opened in Grantham, Lincs. Mr and Mrs Davidson have spent £97,600 on their hotel costs in 22 years, which could have bought them a two-bedroom terrace home or flat in the Lincolnshire area. Help the Aged say the cost of a residential care home for one person is between £21,000 and £25,000 a year. They still have the flat in Sheffield, which they bought for £25,000 in 1980. It has quadrupled in value. The first Travelodge they used was at Burton-under-Needwood, Staffs, while visiting antiques fairs. They spent an average of £1,600 a year for the first 11 years there, staying three or four nights at a time, before the move to the new site at Governby Moor services on the A1 in Grantham. Sitting in the hotel's room one yesterday, Mr Davidson, 79, a retired banker who served in the Royal Navy during the Second World War, said: "This is our home. We have everything we need here - and the staff are like family now. ''We get great rates because we book well in advance and all our bed linen is laundered too. ''It doesn't get much better than that does it? We only have to walk across the car park for meals as there is a Little Chef here too.'' They pay around £8,000 a year at Grantham, depending on room rates. Mrs Davidson, 70, said: "I really like living here as it's so convenient and our room is on the ground floor so there are no stairs or lifts to deal with. I don't have this kind of room in our flat in Sheffield. It's spacious and makes things easier for us. We don't get hit with huge heating bills over the winter and it's safer than a lot of places these days. For us it's a better and cheaper option than an old people's home and we're well looked after." The couple visit their first floor flat fortnightly to check for mail and describe their Travelodge room, adorned with family photographs, as "home from home". Mr Davidson said: "The rooms here are spacious, with a large bathroom which makes a perfect base for us. We love the staff and we know them all by name. Friends and family also come to visit us here. There is always something going on outside our window. ''Our room looks out to the car park and a busy slip road where lorries pass by throughout the night.'' ….

Gulp - almost paid off the mortgage on the house but now it looks like we will be starting a new one in terms of cost just for the gas and electricity! If house prices continue to rise then we have some seriously wealthy people out there.

It's true: https://uk.yahoo.com/finance/news/energy-firms-snap-russian-gas-212656505.html

Some tiles off and a tree down locally in Basingstoke.

Basingstoke house prices have been treading water for the last couple of years since the pandemic began. I think now it only starting to catch up as other more desirable places have already become very expensive, particuarly along the south coast. Maybe Basingstoke is a good compromise now offices are wanting staff back in a day or two a week and people want to live halfway between London and the coast...

No that’s luxury. I worked 6 months in a meat factory on split shifts once. That was an eye opener and gave me valuable life experience like how to avoid upsetting the craziest people 🤪

No from yesterday evening so being debated and maybe set in law.

This thread title may need to change....

We all got 2% this year. Problem is a month earlier we were told our site is closing so many jobs lost including mine at the end of this month ☹️

From TonyB33 comment on the guardian website: “The author is missing a number of fundamental points. The key issue is that until 1971 we had little or no house price inflation. The pound was linked to the dollar and the dollar was fixed to the price of gold at USD35 to an ounce. This prevented governments from printing money to solve problems. The USA came off the gold standard in 1971 and gold is now USD 1780 an ounce it has lost 98% of its 1971 value. House prices in terms of gold have changed very little. However the average wage in 1971 was £28 a week. If wages had maintained their value in terms of gold the average wage would be £82k where as it is currently £32k. We do not have a housing problem we have a wage problem. The problem is caused by the opening up of previously communist countries with large cheap workforce’s, container ships that move goods cheaply and swiftly and the internet removing the expense of international communication. The problem to be solved is 6/7 of the world’s population think £10 a week is a good wage. How do we justify paying a ford worker £1,000 a week when his Chinese equivalent in a newer factory earns £20 a week. The solution we have currently chosen is to move from manufacturing to distribution and warehousing goods made elsewhere, specialists manufacturing that can maintain high wages, manufacturing from sunk cost plant that is not being replaced, and services. At the same time the government consistently changes inflation standards so as to add printed money to the economy that pushes up asset prices but does not impact on the official measure of inflation and hence lead to higher incomes. Higher wages is not solved by higher minimum wages. It can only be solved to adapting UK business to current world competition and exploiting what unique goods and services the U.K. can provide. My feeling is that the leadership not only does not comprehend the problem but is unable to solve it. The end result will be more debt money printing and falling living standards. At the moment you cannot afford housing in time the list of what you cannot afford will be a lot longer.” Sums up the situation perfectly and I am seeing in my town the destruction of engineering and science buildings to make way for distribution and containment warehouses Also a big Amazon warehouse being built soon.