Captain Tightwad

"Come home to a real fire - buy a luxury flat in Battersea"

Hmmm... Wasn't really so cheeky then, was it? Unless "cheeky" means "slightly less insane" in your dictionary.

"Look! Things improving dramatically since Osborne booted out!" About as good a propagandist as he was a chancellor, apparently.

Seconded. I propose that all residential construction activity in London henceforth be referred to as "flatshitting".

Can't help wondering whether rumblings of an imminent crash were partly responsible for May's surprising decision to call an early election. Which, if true, would be a good thing - an indication that they're planning to ride it out rather than trying to hold it up.

"Residents can also enjoy a state of the art gymnasium, swimming pool and holistic spa, a digital entertainment suite with private cinema and virtual golf, and spacious lounge and library area." Curiously, they forgot to mention what the service charge might be. I'm sure that was just an oversight.

You mean like... Enfield?

Ahhh, yes. A criminally underappreciated Vir Cotto classic.

Still tricky to prove unless you actually catch them in the act, though. Otherwise EA1 could joe-job a competing EA2 by moving their boards somewhere inapplicable and reporting them.

Of course it matters. There are lots of things other than housing that require large sums of money; retiring early, for example. Just because you can pay a grotesquely inflated price doesn't mean you should.

Yup, £1500pcm is pretty normal* for a middling-quality 1-bed flat anywhere in Zone 2 with even vaguely decent transport links. * "normal" adjusted for the current howling batshit insanity, I mean

Yes, Shaun's definitely one of the good guys. I've been following his blog for a while now.

I've seen quite a few reductions and things staying on the market for weeks if not months. Not sure how best to take advantage, other than maybe going for shorter contracts in the expectation that you'll be in a better position when it comes time to renew/extend, and that a LL can kick you out after 6 months anyway. IME EAs are very reluctant to put anything nonstandard in a contract, though, so insisting on weird terms might hold you up quite a bit. (Remember EA and LL interests overlap but don't coincide.)

Yes, I think this one is really important, especially now that we're likely to be outside the EU's protectionist umbrella. Higher housing costs -> higher wage costs -> UK unable to compete effectively in the global economy -> higher risk of losing your job if you have one, less chance of finding one if you don't.

Or possibly people wondering whether it's time to sell up.