olde guto

I remember that cow from when she did Working Lunch c. 2005/6 and saying pretty much the same thing.

Fluteroop I guess another thing you might not be aware of is how British fishermen sold their vessels to the Spanish etc. Oh and how it was our friends in EFTA (Norway and Iceland) who did the real damage to the fishing fleets in the Northern ports. This 20 year old article goes into a lot of detail http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/britains-fishy-role-in-the-quota-hopping-scandal-1315516.html

If the Daily Telegraph is talking about (temporary) nationalisation of Tata plants and isn't saying that EU rules prevent this it's a fair bet EU rules don't prevent it http://www.telegraph.co.uk/business/2016/03/30/government-could-nationalise-tata-steel-works-in-bid-to-find-buy/ This is backed-up by the Italians having renationalised Ilva steelworks a couple of years ago http://www.mirror.co.uk/news/uk-news/steel-industry-protected-eu-countries-6671639 No one told the The Daily Mail (or they just choose to ignore facts) and it is taking its usual stance and is saying EU rules could prevent it. Hmm, could, weasel word that, a DM reading brexiter will read that as will and rant and rave to anyone who will listen.

Worth saying that it's the UK that stopped EU moves to stem the flow of cheap Chinese steel http://news.sky.com/story/1639630/uk-blocks-move-to-stem-cheap-china-steel Perhaps the Welsh would be best out of the evil EU UK?

Borrowers face losing their homes after signing up for some dumbass scheme that would pay off their mortgage for £10 a month (if they promise to cough-up £150k in ten years time) - what could possibly go wrong? A lot by the looks of it. http://www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-3514575/Many-borrowers-face-losing-home-signing-unauthorised-online-bank.html#comments

Funnily enough a mate of mine was moaning at the weekend about contacting EAs about rental properties they'd seen on zoopla/rightmove and not being able to view any of them as no longer available but by happy coincidence they could always view another (less nice) property nearby.

Everyone talks about buy to let when what they really mean is borrow to let. Buy = 100% your own money, borrow = getting as big a mortgage as you can.

Hmm... I've never really considered what that might have done to mortgage lending - going from the mutal model to shareholder model. Driving the former BS to lend more to keep shareholders happy, which in turn led the remaining BS to follow suit in order to maintain market share. Carpetbagging, yes I remember that well now, a fair few people got "easy money" out of that, wonder how many really keen carpetbaggers went on to become BTL LLs?

From the web article it looks like they have uPVC double glazed windows, in my experience they're a lot better than sash or other single glazed windows. Whatever is causing the cold/damp is (as has been said) most likely a structural issue.

Or property poverty? Chances are if they were paying less rent (I doubt very much they own) then they could afford to heat the house better.

Ah but the media (and hence the sheeple) see the disabled as poor unfortunates, whereas someone who loses their minimum wage job in a dead-end town with little hope of future employment a scrounger.

It's was sheer chance that Cardiff is one of the several places where I keep an eye on the prices and that was a pretty eye catching (as well as watering) listing on rightmove. Chances are there are other places in the UK where this is happening - esp those with large student populations.

Talking of which look what has just been approved in Cardiff: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-35766959 Wales' tallest building - a 42 storey tower housing 450 students. That's equivalent to about 60-90 student houses.

OK that's worth knowing as I've no real knowledge of the property market over there. I have to admit that the areas those houses were in looked fine to me (certainly in comparison to council estates or bedsit land in the UK) from what I could see on streetview, but then again from the time I spent there most places looked far more neat and tidy than in the UK.

Just spent 3 weeks in the Netherlands and it confirmed (in my mind) that it's the banks (with a lot of help from the government) and something in the British mentality that has driven the insane HPI we've. First things first a few factoids: The Netherlands is a crowded place 400 people/ sq km (260 people/ sq km for the UK) About 4% of the population are migrants from other EU states (similar, if not higher, % to UK) Despite this (which according to some are the cause of our woes) houses are still affordable. For around £155,000 (€200,000) it's possible to buy a 100+ sqm 3-4 bedroom house in what look like OK areas of major cities. Amsterdam 122sqm €195k (£143k) http://www.funda.nl/koop/amsterdam/huis-49758619-uranusstraat-2/ 103sqm €185k (£145k) http://www.funda.nl/koop/amsterdam/huis-49512825-saturnusstraat-2/ The Hague (the seat of government) 150sqm! €195k (£151k) http://www.funda.nl/koop/den-haag/huis-49667073-loosduinseweg-719-en-721/ A new build 125sqm €195k (£151k) http://www.funda.nl/koop/den-haag/huis-49683634-vermeerkwartier-bouwnr-4/ You'd probably struggle to buy a house of that size (in a decent looking area) in Luton or Milton Keynes let alone London.

Another major dump of a BTL portfolio in Cardiff, Swansea, Coventry and Aberdeen 142 bedrooms rising to 150 bedrooms in the academic year 2016/2017 situated within 17 properties PORTFOLIO A comprises: * 13 houses in Cardiff * 1 house building in Swansea * 2 houses in Coventry PORTFOLIO B comprises: * A block of flats in Aberdeen All yours for just £7.5million looking for an Iranian/Russian/etc. wanting to launder some money??? http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-40684848.html

UK NHS? You mean English NHS. http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/junior-doctors-contracts-wales-extends-warm-welcome-to-defecting-doctors-after-jeremy-hunt-imposes-a6867156.html http://www.scotsman.com/news/politics/nicola-sturgeon-slams-tory-treatment-of-english-junior-doctors-1-4028294

Granddaughter of family friends who did a medicine degree got a one year placement in Oz, she only comes back to visit the family in the UK. This was several years before these changes, if there's one saying that sums up British governments in general (whatever their flavour) it is "they know the price of everything and the value of nothing".

They might end. But the knuts will think of something else, in fact I really dread to think what they might come up with. You know that situation where someone says something stupid, attempts to get out of it, makes things worse and eventually someone tells them to stop digging... Well that's the government, I'm not sure if they haven't realised that they are just making things worse and that the best thing to do is to just stop digging and let prices crash. As much as hate Crash Gordon even he didn't dream-up anything like HTB. It's an attempt at populism and I have a natural aversion to that. When a large proportion (if not majority) of the population think the HPI is good how can you trust the populous to make the right decision?

They'll get their way, but what Jeremy *unt forgets is that not only can these highly intelligent and qualified people move to Australia, New Zealand, USA etc but they can also move to Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland. Those health services will poach doctors from England. Belfast, Cardiff and Edinburgh, whilst housing might not be cheap in comparison to local incomes, for a doctor in London, Oxford, Bristol, Cambridge, Bath etc they'll be a bargain. Those countries will get the best, whilst England puts up with the rest. The biggest irony is that the members of the public who support what Jeremy *unt is doing are also the least likely to be happy about being treated by Dr Kia Ora Umbongo or Dr Islamic bin-Jihadin for whom better than 3rd world conditions are a dream.

For those of you who have the propertybee plugin I suggest you fire it up and have a look at those particular student lets. They were all "Initial entry found" on the 14/15/16 Oct 2015, clearly this LL(s) knew the game was up but is a greedy knut and with the autumn statement and them not selling might be beginning to panic, time for the popcorn Not sure about the student housing people are on about near the hospital do you mean this place? https://www.google.co.uk/maps/@51.5046408,-3.1836022,3a,66.8y,244.16h,91.67t/data=!3m4!1e1!3m2!1sL3EOQF5LPkqscmHbIf3TuA!2e0?hl=en As for the big boys a quick google showed a 24 storey student halls that is being planned, housing nearly 500 students http://www.walesonline.co.uk/business/commercial-property/plans-been-revealed-24-storey-10683079 Then on top of that flats for 600 students are in the pipeline http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/600-new-student-rooms-built-10576200 Lambs Knuts to the slaughter, it'll be a f-ing massacre

The prices are stupidly steep, seems like the pricing formula is just based on number of rooms. I had another quick look at some of the lisitings and they are clearly landlord sales talking about yields etc. One thing that eventually clicked is that I remember visiting one of those houses when a mate of mine was a student in Cardiff in the mid-late 90's! It doesn't seem to have changed hands since then, but has been extended as I think it was a 3-4 bed at the time. This could be a pretty significant as it means longterm LLs are trying to cash-in their chips.

Interesting... about 10 properties, all clearly HMOs, all reduced in price yesterday, all in the studenty area, several streets with 2 or more properties, being sold by an estate agent that is probably better known for being a letting agent. http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/find.html?locationIdentifier=BRANCH^58239&sortType=6&numberOfPropertiesPerPage=20 Looks to me at least like a LL is off-loading their portfolio.

In a way he might have a point, especially in the US. I personally can't remember such polar opposites as Trump and Sanders winning an important primary like New Hampshire (technically they're the first primaries as Iowa holds a caucuses). People clearly feel* that things aren't as good as they are cracked-up to be and are looking for someone to blame (Mexicans/Muslims or the 1%), which rings a bell. * as opposed to see, a wheelbarrow of worthless money is easier to see than your massive debt (mortgage, overdraft, credit card, car loan...) millstone around your neck.

You won't be thanked. They'll probably be annoyed at you for being right and annoyed at you for not stopping them.