AteMoose

Nahh the median world income is much higher: $350 per week... you only have to worry if your in the bottom 30% and earning less than $1 per day... above 50% your ok, and above 90% you will be in the top percentile in your country and living very well (because income disparity is much much bigger in the developing world).... If your in the top 10% in the developing world you are bound to be living it up with a gardener, a pool boy a large house, a couple of cars and kids at private schools (but you will also envy people in the developed world) http://www.bbc.co.uk...gazine-17512040

I'm not sure the historic definition of middle class means you don't work? (professionals, managers, and senior civil servants were classed as middle class in a 1911 report?) I hear you on middle class being an invention by the er.... middle classes to elevate themselves above the working class...

Just wondered what HPCers views on what middle class is, and who is middle class in the UK today, and how it compares to middle class in the other countries in the 3rd and developing world. Do the middle class think they are working class? or is the reverse true do the working class think they are middle class? have the lines become blurred? where is the income line in the UK between rich and poor? Can the middle class be poor or can they be rich?

For wage inflation you need a crashing currency which is easy in a globalised labour market

Nahh town was as busy as usual... every week its getting busier and busier in worcester. Beer festival last weekend was heaving, this weekend is the music festival and it was just as busy.

ling, what do you think? is there an oversupply of cars? not what I hear from your twitter feed... (Link placed here to summon ling, of dragons den fame ;p) http://www.lingscars.com/

Possibly.... although I expect we will get some kind of insurance to cover the valuers to protect them from themselves.

but they wont ;p how much were you paying in rent?

Poor Farmers..... most of the farmers I know HAVE to buy a new piece of machinery each year because the refuse to pay any tax/more tax than they have to. Pretty much all farmers kids go to some sort of private school but claim poverty: Cow produces 7,315 litres of milk per year, 28p per litre: 2k per year per cow, average herd size is 117, 234k from setting milk before costs for an average farm... .. so the poor farmer used to be able to rent out at £15 per square foot but now competing with £3 per square foot but would rather pay the rates/complain about the rates rather than rent it out at a competitive amount? Doesn't sound like someone who is struggling. Farmers are GREAT/Experts at bending the rules to avoid paying ANY tax and to earn as much as possible. They are also experts at telling everyone they have no money/poor. My wifes friend is a farmers wife, they rent there farm and land for a relativly low amount. My wifes friend earns and they live off her earnings, and her husband officially earns 8k pa, but after a couple of glasses of wine it becomes very clear the reality is very different.

with current IRs and what they are likly to continue you to your better off going for a lifetime tracker, you could have picked one up at the start of this year at just above 2%...

Yes, the japanese peak was insane. Here are 4 insane bubble facts: 1. At the height of the bubble economy all the property in Japan, which is smaller than California, was worth five times that of the United States. 2. According to the Guinness Book of Records, the land in central Tokyo around the Mediya Building was the most expensive in the world ever. In October 1988 the Japanese National Land Agency estimated its value at $248,000 a square foot. Mediya is a retail food store. 3. The grounds of the Imperial Palace in downtown Tokyo was said to be worth all the land in California. 4. Australia sold part of the land its embassy was on and paid off half of its foreign debt.

it depends on the house and how much it was overpaid when it was bought in 2001. A nearby house to me sold for 165k in 2001 new, in 2010 it resold for 170k, others sold for between 190k and 240k. I would say a good price would be 190k... but it depends how keenly priced the sale in 2001 was.

We have beer friday at my office, which means you can drink on a friday afternoon in work, we are a software house and its 2012 and elf and safety don't mind/haven't said anything. We have a pool table, table football and 60 quid worth of cakes and food are bought every Monday for an office of 20 people. Every month or so there is an office night, food and beers paid for by the company. There are lots of cool companies around. My place is pretty cool, but I know about other offices that rock, and my last place was pretty good aswell.. 2.5% IR would be nice.... but thinking about it the mortgage is currently 2.3%...

home.co.uk produce by region these back to 2000: http://www.home.co.uk/guides/house_prices_report.htm?location=london&all=1

My strategy was put into action in 2008 after being on this site since 2004. I bought a property on a 5 year fixed rate deal. When this expired I paid off a chunk and have now re-mortgaged on a variable rate deal at just above 2% and massively reduced the term.

The difference is Ireland almost built one house for every member of the population. The oversupply is mindblowing.

Mmmm very prophetic of me ;p

but your wrong.... MOST people have low interest rates, and average UK household debt including mortgage is 55k. Most people are covered. Its only the minority people who bought at the peak or overpaid that arent covered, but thats just 5->20% of the population

It depends on what you paid in 2007 and where.

I guess a default with the euro is better for the greeks than a default without the euro. There is no way to stop the greek population from not using euros?

its a GREAT political move. The greek population LOVE the euro, they want the euro, 90% of greek people want to keep the euro because the alternative of a weak hyperinflating currency (Drakma) to too hard to bear. Suggesting they have a referendum (Which will come back with a 90% yes), will help the country meet austerity. The average greek wants to be the the euro and no pay any tax.. and thats not the choice.. You cant have both. If merkle gets in early and the people say they want the euro then they are more likely to pay tax.

the forum member was called spline http://www.housepric...howtopic=154352 last seen on HPC april 2011 http://www.housepricecrash.co.uk/forum/index.php?showuser=2887

You should be able to find the data from a number of places http://www.police.uk/data http://www.statistic.../hub/index.html Its just a matter of parsing it, cleaning it up and displaying. All these things take time but go for it like this Ex HPC member did with all the houseprice data: http://www.houseprices.uk.net/

I think HSBC is the best, we are moving to them from santander after our five year fixed expired. We got 2.39% for a 15 year tracker (40% LTV) just before them bumped up the IR . It was that or pay double for a fixed rate! Our thoughts are to over pay and aim to clear it faster altho at 2.39% over 15 years the lions share is capital so overpaying doesn't have much of an effect!

The rest of the street is nicer http://maps.google.c...ved=0CA8Q_AUoAg some of the other houses have been knocked down and turned into modern brick versions.