Re: What now for the UK? : Tue Dec 27, 2011 11:54 am  

Sal Paradise wrote: Get banks to start lending again especially to first time buyers - once that starts then you would see more rented property becoming available to buy. You would also builders start building new houses again as they would have a chance of selling them. There is already a scheme in place to underwrite 95% first time buyers mortgages, it follows the successful Homebuyer scheme which the current Government stopped and has now done a rebadge on (absolutely not a u-turn though) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15817982 Problem is that within four weeks of that announcement the FSA announced this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16246210 which completely contradicts the message given out by Government that buying not renting is good. It would be awfully nice if some leadership could be brought to bear and we all started pissing in the same pot.

Sal Paradise wrote: Get banks to start lending again especially to first time buyers - once that starts then you would see more rented property becoming available to buy. You would also builders start building new houses again as they would have a chance of selling them. There is already a scheme in place to underwrite 95% first time buyers mortgages, it follows the successful Homebuyer scheme which the current Government stopped and has now done a rebadge on (absolutely not a u-turn though) http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-15817982 Problem is that within four weeks of that announcement the FSA announced this http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-16246210 which completely contradicts the message given out by Government that buying not renting is good. It would be awfully nice if some leadership could be brought to bear and we all started pissing in the same pot.

Re: What now for the UK? : Tue Dec 27, 2011 12:41 pm  

Sal Paradise wrote:

Your first paragraph is inaccurate - property is not a depreciating asset - it cannot be viewed as a piece of machinery or a car that becomes obsolete as new technology overtakes it. It will always have a value and given the supply is exceeded by demand its value will increase. In a set of accounts you would typical depreciate a building over 50 years but you then have it revalued every 5 years the gain is then stuck in a revaluation reserve in the balance sheet. More often than not the increases in the reserve account are greater than the accumulated depreciation.
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Yes, but balance sheet valuations do fall - as evidenced by major property companies getting into difficulty by breaching covenants - so companies that are not just massaging their positions by voluntary, timely revaluations, actually do book downward revaluations ('losses' if you like) to revaluation reserve.

The only property that tends to have inherent long-term value is the land a building sits on. Then, the land value depends on realistc usage - and in many areas (eg upland areas) it's on little value and has probably not appreciated in real terms in centuries.

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 11:54 am  

It's going to be okay. The Olympics and the jubilee will, err, get us back on track.

It's going to be okay. The Olympics and the jubilee will, err, get us back on track.

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:24 pm  

Mintball wrote: It's going to be okay. The Olympics and the jubilee will, err, get us back on track. Strange innit? A couple of million public sector workers go on strike and it costs the country a fortune. Yet when the vast majority of the country are enjoying an extra day's holiday, that's seen as a benefit.

Mintball wrote: It's going to be okay. The Olympics and the jubilee will, err, get us back on track. Strange innit? A couple of million public sector workers go on strike and it costs the country a fortune. Yet when the vast majority of the country are enjoying an extra day's holiday, that's seen as a benefit.

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 1:39 pm  

cod'ead wrote:

Strange innit?

A couple of million public sector workers go on strike and it costs the country a fortune. Yet when the vast majority of the country are enjoying an extra day's holiday, that's seen as a benefit.

Strange indeed, now you mention it.

Will this be the most expensive advertising campaign in history? The PM seems to be suggesting that if these two events go well, something else will follow. A sort of 'if you do it well, they will come'.

Will businesses suddenly look at the UK in a different light and decide to set up here? Will millions more tourists suddenly make this their chosen destination?

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 2:18 pm  

Mintball wrote:

Will businesses suddenly look at the UK in a different light and decide to set up here? Will millions more tourists suddenly make this their chosen destination?

At the prices they are likely to be charged in London, from hotel rooms down to a can of fizzy pop from a street vendor, I doubt it somehow.

I'm going to ask my contact in the Thomsons Holiday Shop to keep an eye on the slashed prices for holidays abroad during the Olympic three weeks this summer, if he can find a bargain like he found for us this (last) year then I'll have his arm off again.

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 2:31 pm  

McLaren_Field wrote:

At the prices they are likely to be charged in London, from hotel rooms down to a can of fizzy pop from a street vendor, I doubt it somehow.

I'm going to ask my contact in the Thomsons Holiday Shop to keep an eye on the slashed prices for holidays abroad during the Olympic three weeks this summer, if he can find a bargain like he found for us this (last) year then I'll have his arm off again.

Looking at the dates, I suspect we'll be out of the country too. Fortunately, it actually coincides with when we want to be in France this year for a specific festival.

It's going to an absolute nightmare otherwise. We're in the 'Olympic borough'. Traffic is bad enough at the best of times, but with all the bus/taxi lanes to be given over to Games traffic alone, it would be chaos getting to and from work for starters.

Re: What now for the UK? : Mon Jan 02, 2012 9:56 pm  

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Re: What now for the UK? : Tue Jan 03, 2012 12:23 am  

Dally wrote:

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How very succinct

Re: What now for the UK? : Tue Jan 03, 2012 6:55 am  

cod'ead wrote:

How very succinct

talking rubbish as usual

should have been a '-' and not a '.'