tentboy Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 OK so ten years from now. No. Twenty. Where will you be and what will you be doing? Who really knows. Life does tend to throw the odd curve ball - so predicting where we’ll be in the future is really just folly. But thinking about future proofing yourself isn’t and it could make areas of your life very different and potentially far less problematic. What’s this got to do with house prices I hear you say, well nothing and everything. You see, when prices finally become affordable and you make that plunge into home ownership; will you have really thought about all its connotations? You have bought a home!!! You have put down roots and unwittingly you have made a statement that says: 1. You like the area. 2. You’re a 4 bed detached house kind of person 3. You’re probably the family type etc. etc… or what ever… We all hear about climate change and what effects it may have and to what degree (deliberate pun), but what about other factors? Addressing them now and refocusing on where you want to be in the future, after considering some of the potential curve balls could make a world of difference. What am I talking about? Potential future world issues or (PFWIs). Working out what could potentially be happening in the near term and long term could really make a difference to where you want to end up putting down roots. It could also help to evaluate want is important to you and make home ownership when it happens a lot more rewarding. Basically this is an idea I have had recently (probably due to lack of sleep). But we should compile a list of PFWIs for consideration before paying your money and anchoring yourself in a particular area. I don’t just mean mundane immediately obvious things, we really need to think outside the box. I’ll start off with a few and we’ll see how many we get. It will take a research to really get to the issues of the future. 1. Flooding 2. Fuel costs 3. Transport 4. Oil 5. Gas 6. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
binkybonka Posted June 22, 2006 Share Posted June 22, 2006 7) Local \ national area crime 8) Local \ national drug abuse 9) Local \ national unemployment 10) Local \ national debt 11) Local \ national social divides Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harry Sacks Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 "Are You Thinking About Future Proofing Yourself?, Houses crash, the Green Party take power – what will you be doing…" I'm building a fallout shelter, you don't need planning see, learning about the effects of ionising radiation in the body. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SarahBell Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 None of these problems will exist in tony's world with ID cards, contant monitoring of what you do and think, where you go and who you talk to. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorant Steve Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Who cares about the future? Live for the present. If future generations are screwed I won't care. I'll be dead. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrliberty Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Try, where possible to do the following: Don’t buy a property on a floodplain. Don’t buy a property in an area that could be underwater in 30 years (Norfolk/Lincolnshire for instance) Check out the EA flood map: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/ Don’t live in a major city or its suburbs if you can help it. Avoid living near anything that will be unpleasant if it goes bang (refinery, nuclear power station etc). You don’t have to go completely “The Good Life”, but go with a view to self sufficiency and low household energy. Go off grid for as many services as possible (have a well rather than mains water for instance – you can do this yourself if you are reasonably handy, it doesn’t have to cost 12k) Learn how to grow food. If you have the time and the space, have a veggie patch. Have some form of alternative power source (photovoltaics and a windmill for instance). Not to power your everyday household needs or anything like that, but have at least some power that is independent. Also have a generator and a modest fuel store for when (note when, not if) there are power shortages. Have at least one room in the house that can be heated without outside services (log burner and a wood pile for example – quite nice to have anyway, especially at a time like Christmas for instance). We have an energy crisis in a bad winter and an awful lot of people are quite simply going to freeze to death, especially the elderly. Keep a decent stock of frozen and canned food and stock of other consumables (couple of paraffin lamps and fuel for instance). Stock a decent and comprehensive first aid kit, and make sure everyone in the house, kids and all know at least the very basics, preferably more. Stock a decent medicine cabinet, including antibiotics (you can buy them over the counter in Spain). Make sure everyone who can in the house has a pushbike. The difficult one is a serious method of transport. I don’t have an answer to that, unless people fancy having a couple of horses and a cart Some of these are just common sense ideas, some people may feel that some are a little over the top. Personally I don’t think so. The majority are easy to do, and could really make a difference in case of any kind of event out of the ordinary, such as energy shortages, terrorist attacks or natural disasters or civil unrest. Spend a weekend on it then forget it and get on with life I don’t subscribe to this “climate of fear” business, and don’t loose any sleep over the end of the world. Most of the above just makes common sense to me. Plus come a time of crisis, acquiring and doing the above will be practically impossible and too late. Be under No illusion our current government (or any future one for that matter) will be paralysed if there was any kind of major problem or incident. They will also not take real and comprehensive action on environmental issues until it is too late, something happens, and then they will try to fix it with a half-arsed knee-jerk reaction. You will be on your own. Don’t believe me, just look at what happened in New Orleans, and they have very large and experienced Federal level disaster management agencies in the US. We were 24-48 hours of rainfall away from that happening in Nottingham and the Trent Valley in 2000. They had one rescue boat for the whole county. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm going to forget houses, buy myself a cheap bit of land and build myself an Ark. Then I'll be laughing when the global floods come and all those BTL 'executive flats' are five hundred feet underwater. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorant Steve Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 I'm going to forget houses, buy myself a cheap bit of land and build myself an Ark. Then I'll be laughing when the global floods come and all those BTL 'executive flats' are five hundred feet underwater. Barking. Absolutely barking! Whilst I agree that water levels will probably rise at least 600 ft - possibly even a thousand foot there's no way you'll find a cheap peice of land anywhere. All high level land has been bought by the government and the VIs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrliberty Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Barking. Absolutely barking! Whilst I agree that water levels will probably rise at least 600 ft - possibly even a thousand foot there's no way you'll find a cheap peice of land anywhere. All high level land has been bought by the government and the VIs. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Colour Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Who cares about the future? Live for the present. If future generations are screwed I won't care. I'll be dead. Yeah but don't you care now while you are alive? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ignorant Steve Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Yeah but don't you care now while you are alive? Do I care now about the future? Nope. Do I care now about having good food and drink flown in to maximise my present needs? Yep. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saving For a Space Ship Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Try, where possible to do the following: Don’t buy a property on a floodplain. Don’t buy a property in an area that could be underwater in 30 years (Norfolk/Lincolnshire for instance) Check out the EA flood map: http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/subjects/flood/ Don’t live in a major city or its suburbs if you can help it. Avoid living near anything that will be unpleasant if it goes bang (refinery, nuclear power station etc). You don’t have to go completely “The Good Life”, but go with a view to self sufficiency and low household energy. Go off grid for as many services as possible (have a well rather than mains water for instance – you can do this yourself if you are reasonably handy, it doesn’t have to cost 12k) Learn how to grow food. If you have the time and the space, have a veggie patch. Have some form of alternative power source (photovoltaics and a windmill for instance). Not to power your everyday household needs or anything like that, but have at least some power that is independent. Also have a generator and a modest fuel store for when (note when, not if) there are power shortages. Have at least one room in the house that can be heated without outside services (log burner and a wood pile for example – quite nice to have anyway, especially at a time like Christmas for instance). We have an energy crisis in a bad winter and an awful lot of people are quite simply going to freeze to death, especially the elderly. Keep a decent stock of frozen and canned food and stock of other consumables (couple of paraffin lamps and fuel for instance). Stock a decent and comprehensive first aid kit, and make sure everyone in the house, kids and all know at least the very basics, preferably more. Stock a decent medicine cabinet, including antibiotics (you can buy them over the counter in Spain). Make sure everyone who can in the house has a pushbike. The difficult one is a serious method of transport. I don’t have an answer to that, unless people fancy having a couple of horses and a cart Some of these are just common sense ideas, some people may feel that some are a little over the top. Personally I don’t think so. The majority are easy to do, and could really make a difference in case of any kind of event out of the ordinary, such as energy shortages, terrorist attacks or natural disasters or civil unrest. Spend a weekend on it then forget it and get on with life I don’t subscribe to this “climate of fear” business, and don’t loose any sleep over the end of the world. Most of the above just makes common sense to me. Plus come a time of crisis, acquiring and doing the above will be practically impossible and too late. Be under No illusion our current government (or any future one for that matter) will be paralysed if there was any kind of major problem or incident. They will also not take real and comprehensive action on environmental issues until it is too late, something happens, and then they will try to fix it with a half-arsed knee-jerk reaction. You will be on your own. Don’t believe me, just look at what happened in New Orleans, and they have very large and experienced Federal level disaster management agencies in the US. We were 24-48 hours of rainfall away from that happening in Nottingham and the Trent Valley in 2000. They had one rescue boat for the whole county. good post, a reduction in energy use is common sense, who would have believed a couple of years ago that we would see 40% + fuel rises in such a short space of time ? Its real. Talking energy saving, are there any surveyors around to advise on the effects on a typical brick house structure when piling soil up against the outside to increase thermal mass & insulation (I assume a membrane for damp would be needed) Is it possible without support and how high could you go ? Looks like the cracks are showing in the airline fuel cost game as well, given recent news. The airline cartel lobby is so strong its screwed us over tax on fuel for decades. This has to change & I get a buzz at signs of them given a hard time for price fixing. Surely prices will rise to recoup their fines as well. The effect of increased air flight prices on immigration & Fly-to-Let will be enormous. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MarkG Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 The airline cartel lobby is so strong its screwed us over tax on fuel for decades. Huh? The 'airline lobby has screwed us over tax'? Who do you think would _pay_ the wonderful airline fuel tax if it was imposed? Do you really think that Joe Sixpack _wants_ to have to pay hundreds of pounds in fuel tax every time he flies off on holiday, particularly when the raw cost of the oil that goes into the fuel is already vastly higher than it was ten years ago? Do you honestly think that the government wants fuel taxes imposed on airlines for our benefit? It's like claiming that bookstores have 'screwed us over VAT for decades'. Who would benefit from higher taxes other than the government? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bart of Darkness Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 They had one rescue boat for the whole county. Probably for the Mayor and a retinue of "diversity co-ordinators". Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Saving For a Space Ship Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Huh? The 'airline lobby has screwed us over tax'? Who do you think would _pay_ the wonderful airline fuel tax if it was imposed? Do you really think that Joe Sixpack _wants_ to have to pay hundreds of pounds in fuel tax every time he flies off on holiday, particularly when the raw cost of the oil that goes into the fuel is already vastly higher than it was ten years ago? Do you honestly think that the government wants fuel taxes imposed on airlines for our benefit? It's like claiming that bookstores have 'screwed us over VAT for decades'. Who would benefit from higher taxes other than the government? I don't think you quite understand me as the statement was short. IMO, Joe public should be paying much higher air fuel tax, the strength of the notorious cartel amongst other factors has prevented it. It wasn't until 5 years ago on 9/11 when air traffic was halted that global dimming by air traffic was discovered to change the temp. of the planet by 1 degree. It had massive environmental consequences previously unrealised. In addition, the benefit of higher fuel taxes would be the conservation of scarce resources, leaving more left for making more useful materials like plastics from oil. Non-vatables like books & kids clothing don't screw ther planet like air travel. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Bart of Darkness Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Global dimming. This is a transcript of a BBC Horizon documentary on the subject. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TheJudge Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Global dimming. This is a transcript of a BBC Horizon documentary on the subject. Doesn't make happy reading. But maybe we should stick our heads in the sand and ignore the future... And then end up like these people: http://www.bbc.co.uk/science/horizon/2003/...landtrans.shtml (Couldn't resist adding another Horizon link.) A self-inflicted ecological disaster, but on a much smaller scale. The cynics will say that the scientists have got it all wrong and there isn't a problem. My response is I really hope you are right. Reply to the original question - are you future proofing yourself? Answer - yes. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonsfedup Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Future? I don't think I have a future in this country............ Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mrliberty Posted June 23, 2006 Share Posted June 23, 2006 Seeing as it’s the weekend and the sun is out in the midlands, I thought I would add some positive things that could happen in the future rather than just the negative! Cure for Cancer. Cure for aids. ITER Nuclear fusion reactor works. Eventual cheap clean harmless energy for all. Grow all types of replacement organs and limbs. Nor more organ donors required. Richard Branson stops playing with his spaceship and spends more time playing with his train set. The trains start to run on time. I can go from Nottingham to London on the fusion powered underground vacuum maglev and be there in 20 minutes. CHAV 729 virus breaks out on a council estate in Kent in 2010. Spreads rapidly, decimating Chav population. Surviving Chavs go to ground and nobody hears much about them again. Private sector space companies eventually make it to earth orbit, and eventually a bunch of rich folk club together and decide to go and do some prospecting. Britain becomes world leader in developing nanotechnology. Develops car sized package of nanobots that can be shipped out to Moon and Mars. Nanobots synthesize raw material and build bases within two years. It is cheaper to buy property per square meter on Mars in 2020 than a new build flat in Nottingham circa 2006. First hundred colonists arrive at “New HPC City” and move into their FTB homes with view over Valles Marineris in 2025 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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