happily renting

Completely rubbish show so far. They seem fixated on shared ownership.

Remind me again ttrtr why rising rents (not that I believe they will) are good for anybody except yourself? Do you enjoy the prospect of people suffering hardship just to put a roof over their head? Is that the kind of world you like living in?

They're showing Fantasy Island?

That would've been nice, but lesser fools don't want to hear anything about greater fools. They really seem to live in a parallel universe. I'm just so sick of hearing the fall described as doom and gloom. I would think even the densest sheep would eventaully see that a country full of houses that nobody will be able to afford is pretty D&G.

Alas, it was the very opposite of interesting. White noise. Filler. Audio landfill.

I was going to say it's become a foreign country to me, but you're probably closer to the mark. It's a whole 'nother planet.

It was one of the better LLLs I've seen. The couple reacted almost exactly as I would've in many cases - low ceilings, road noise, etc. Clearly not willing to "compromise" for 400k. They went a little wonky at the end, swooning over a place that really didn't have much merit IMO, but at least they listened to their pocketbooks rather than "their hearts" (when they offered an also-generous 380k I nearly let out a cheer). Kirsty was quite shameless and the banter so lovely & wooden, as I've come to expect. All along I was wondering why they didn't stay in France....

Yes; crazy bad out of control. I'm still mildly jealous of my sister, who lives in a small town in the midwest and recently bought a gorgeous, huge house for the equivalent of about £50,000. (The dollar's in the toilet; blink and that number will change.) There was a recent Alain de Botton travel documentary on C4 which touched on why I'm here: he made the point that people seek out places which help to make them feel complete them in some way. There is a great deal I enjoy about GB which isn't negated by its less desirable attributes. Pluses: - the natives are slightly less insane than Americans, who proved what wimps they are after 9/11 ("Take my Constitution, please - I'm not using it") - a lot of great scenery in a relatively small area, which is nice because I'm a photographer - socialised medicine rather than pay-or-die - more enlightened attitude to time off and other aspects of working life - news programs aren't quite as gagworthy as those in the US - far less religiosity. Politicians don't feel the need to say "God bless the UK" - I get to see what it feels like to be a despised minority Minuses: - I guess we all know what the minuses are. Tony Blair, for a start, who in his own way is almost as bad as Dubya... To bring this back on topic, although I have no problem renting, as my name implies, it's still annoying to be confronted on a daily basis with 'housing ladder' brainwashing. Americans like to buy, too, but they aren't consumed by it. Been here almost 10 years now and can't really imagine going back. Couldn't afford a house in Hawaii any more than I can in the SE, though granted the surroundings are rather nice.

Bear married to a bear. We're both Americans, and chose to live here :0

This is a gem.

Indeed. I've often wondered where people are finding the room to put all this rubbish.

Heh. I don't live in a mansion or Lord North's snooker room, but I also have a few thousand acres outside my front door, not to mention a great deal of privacy. Altogether my cup of tea. Just might be able to stretch to buy this place if it ever came on the market at what I assume it would cost; meanwhile (familiar story) rent is less than interest on a mortgage. I share aceparts' views on 'ownership'. If anybody 'owns' the magnificent vista outside my floor-to-ceiling windows it's me (and the occasional rambler) by virtue of my current tenantship. I've rented all my life, and have lived in some interesting places I never would've been able to buy. I think I can safely say that renting has considerably enriched my life. Why climb the 'ladder' and spend endless years hopping from one shoebox to another? Some degree of financial security is nice (and I'm achieving that simply by saving), but hardly worth such a big chunk of your time on earth. Unless you like shoeboxes of course... to each his own.

Nothing odd about inspections, and I don't begrudge them even though I like my privacy. Fortunately the agents we're with aren't too intrusive. Sometimes they don't even leave the sitting room. As long as they can see you aren't painting the walls with blood, they're happy.

"Ignorance is bliss" - TTRTR No, but ignoring Jabronis (as the Monkey might say) certainly is. Ignorance bites the big one. I keep myself well informed on all points of view; just because BBB is one of the few prolific bears on HPC doesn't mean he's required reading.

I happen to have BBB set on 'ignore', a handy feature of the HPC forum software. The only glitch is that I can still see that he has posted several times. This must mean that the Monkey irks him mightily. IMO this can only be a good thing.

A lot of people seem to reply pretty quickly. BBB, for example, must be hardwired directly into the 'net. I don't mind who starts a discussion and under what guise. As for accusations of trollhood, I expect the Monkey can defend himself...

Erm... no. I am not the Monkey. Believe it or not, as you wish. Lighten up.

Monkey, are you listening? I have always been a fan. You might remember me from the old board (and with another name). But that's not important. What's important is the Monkey is keeping on top of the situation. God speed, Monkey. I enjoy the posts of crashedoutandburned and sledgehead and dr bubb and bullish bear and masked tulip and rjg18 and a few others whose names deserve mention but escape me at the moment, but without you at the spiritual helm I would have left Dodge long ago.

With friends like that, who needs enemies. There are no bargains. Just expensive properties (usually just about liveable) and hideously expensive properties (ie, of reasonable dimensions, in good repair and in a nice location).

A few years ago I also went through hell with noisy neighbours. They'd start blasting music at 11pm, usually keep at it for hours & occasionally all night. I lived in a detached, but it made no difference; the bedroom wall still vibrated. I did everything you're supposed to do: polite visits to ask them if they were aware of just how loud their music was; visit to council, eventually; 'get tough' policy of banging on their door whenever they'd fire up the amps (well, maybe you're not supposed to do this, but it was driving me insane). Nothing worked. Finally had a blowout shouting match. Got my tyres slashed. Started looking to move the next day and found a slice of heaven out in the country. No neighbours at all. If I'd owned the place I might have escaped, but certainly not as easily as I was able to because I was a tenant. And I would've been required to tell prospective buyers of my complaint to the council. PS. My neighbours from hell were homeowners. It was a very nice part of town in a very nice town in the SE. Most of the other neighbours were elderly and often hard of hearing, which may be why there weren't more complaints, but I did have a few of them approach me 'to see if I could do anything', like I was some sort of freelance noise troubleshooter.

It doesn't take balls to buy into a rising market. It takes balls (or ovaries, if you will) to resist the temptations of homeownership - assuming you can afford to get into the game in the first place - when practically all of society is pressurizing you to buy, buy, for God's sake buy before it's too late. What your average bull tends to forget or ignore is that a lot of people simply don't have the money to start playing. Full stop. And some of us, gaspshockhorror, aren't interested in spending our entire lives worrying about the 'housing ladder' and how best to maximize profit, add value, etc & ad nauseum. IMHO, of course.

The smelling salts, please. Did you actually write 'something for nothing', Bluelady? Making a 'silly offer' is not much different from having a silly asking price. In any case, I think you're a bit confused about what 'something for nothing' really means. It's not wannabe FTB's fault that many new homeowners paid over the odds; it's certainly not their fault that sellers have unrealistic expectations. TTRTR: Still looking for commies under the bed?

Yes. Yes. Yes. Yes. (Sorry to sound like such a Yes man.)

TTRTR: your perfectly considered reply could've been cribbed from a textbook, but it almost entirely missed the point, and the heart, of my post. That's ok, I'm not going to poke you with a sharp stick. Rents Must Fall already did that in a very satisfactory manner - though I'll give you credit for the Simpsons animation. Anyway, I can't exactly expect you to negate your entire mode of living, can I? I'm self-employed, as it happens. (And largely self-educated.) Speaking of which I've go work to do. I'm a night owl...

"Most people in the UK simply *don't have the money* anymore. What part of this don't you understand?" Sums it up in a nutshell. TTRTR, you're one of the precious few likeable bulls on this site, but you do my head in sometimes. What I don't understand is why you feel the need to convert people, especially here. You have the good fortune to share the worldview of the vast majority of people out there. Isn't that enough for you? Is all dissent to be quashed in every last corner until we're all good housebuyers? No offense (really!), but I've never really liked bulls, or rather their mindset. Housing isn't a luxury. If you need to be rich please don't do it by doing your bit to impoverish the rest of us. I'm NOT saying don't be a landlord. Where would I be without landlords? But the incessant need for prices to go up and up and up at such a rate is quite simply insane, and bad for society. Despite what the iron lady said, there is such a thing as society.