dpg50000

I think all new builds are like this. When we looked at some, there was no turf laid and they weren't even making an effort to hide the fact that they'd simply dumped all the rubble, waste, even cardboard in there. Builders cheaping out again. Needless to say, the friends I know with new builds had to get the garden properly sorted. The builders turf (if any was provided - not always) was uneven and didn't drain properly, turning to a quagmire in short order.

Yep. Cheaply built, hideous flats, sorry apartments, were primo bubble territory before the GFC. Add the rip-off £4200 in combined charges and they are essentially near worthless.

Half a mil for that s**thole. And some moron thought it was worth nearly £800K initially. Money has lost all value.

A good PM is worth their weight in gold. They can liaise with higher-ups and deflect crap away, so the engineers can focus. They also liaise with the customer and sort out any non-technical stuff. Lastly, they can (as someone else said on this thread) help guide project priorities. Don't get me started on "Scrum Masters" however. A made up job if ever there was one.

Yes, it's amazing what crawls out of the woodwork when there's an issue, so they can be seen to be "involved", when in reality all they do is p*ss off the techie who actually does the work to fix it.

🤣

And what was inflation at the point of that hike?

No, the correct technical term is "a s**thole"

So world trackers have been averaging 14% over the last 18 years? I don't believe it.

Sounds like ******** anyway - parents saved £600 a year for 18 years, plus £500 government bonus = £11300 Does anyone really believe, even with compounding interest, that in the low IR environment of the last 15 years, it's made a 480% return?

Except it isn't £1500 is it? For the smallest studio, it starts around there for but goes up to nearer £1900. And that's for a 12 month lease. It's significantly higher for 6 month terms - £2.4K to £2.8K

Done 🙂

@Timm Suggest a quick edit as this reveals some personal details

The job cuts in the UK appear to be coming quite steadily now, though I do think they will pick up pace before things improve.

Only up to the point at which those doing the PAYE earning decide to jack it in (as record numbers have been doing) or go part-time (as many also have) because they're tired of constantly being fleeced. If you were talking about taxing unearned wealth, including rentierism, you might have a point.

I thought that too, and years ago that was definitely the case. But the majority of pubs I go in now don't seem to (either that, or it's very well hidden).

Whilst there are some older people who are wealthy enough to work part-time or retire early (and, if they're self sufficient, then surely that's their business), the real annoyance is people who work part-time but, through the systematic screwing over of PAYE middle earners, take home a full time wage due to benefit subsidies. I'd hardly say that's a sign of wealth, more of unfair redistribution via taxation.

There is some nuance to this. A lot of councils have been offering flat rate wage increases across the board, not percentages. So, a grade 4 might see the equivalent of an 11% rise, whereas a grade 10 might see the equivalent of a 4% rise. Yes, for the figures, that averages out at ~7.5%, but it's not evenly distributed.

Fair enough. Thanks for the info and the link.

Agreed. I also bought the same - it's a quantum leap over other displays. 4K HDR (or Dolby Vision) programs look out of this world with the contrast ratio these things have. Only issue is they don't fare brilliantly in a brightly lit room. We do most of our watching at night, so not really a problem for us.

No worries. Thanks for the apology. I do enjoy your posts generally, as they seem a lot more considered (and factual) than a lot of the others. 👍

I thought I read that in a lot of US states, the property value is not re-evaluated until the property is next sold. To avoid the exact scenario you describe.

Rude much? I said people I know. Like I'd imagine a lot of people do, my friends and I discuss the cost of living in these higher inflation times. Inevitably that includes a discussion on how much our wages have gone up to compensate. No-one is doing any crowing.

I'm still puzzled by who's getting all these large payrises. No one I know has got anything close. As I've said before, possibly it's influenced by people moving companies for large raises?

Good post. Whilst we can all mock those who used HTB, this isn't exactly their fault is it? It's another example of no long term continuity in anything, always looking for the cheapest bidder (to run the I.T. in this case). Race to the bottom, as usual.