Thought Id start this one going because its rather dead on this board at the moment and I suppose all my usual muckers are either at the Stella tennis event watching Dim Tim (lose again) or at Henly Regatta eating cucumber sandwiches (they wish,...NOT).

Anyway please feel free to just talk to yourself blast away and let it go on any company or subject you wish. Just wish Id thought of this one before.

cheers GF.

The monthly ICM poll for the Guardian is out tonight and has topline figures of CON 32%(+2), LAB 37%(-1), LDEM 12%(-1), UKIP 9%(-2). Changes are from ICM’s November poll

ICM finds 39% backing Dave/George to handle the economy best, compared with just 23% who side with Two Eds.

LOL, it still gives labour a 60 seat majority hays.

that's a broken drum sticky, and i very much doubt its (your) accuracy ..... we all know that % vote does not lead to the equivalent number of seats .... but hey ho, you guys keep handbagging away :-)

on BBC Breakfast this morning, a non-political analysis commented as below (but rather better!) .....

help to buy
not making much impact for first-time buyers as (i think) mortgages still remain tight

bubble?
nowhere near ..... in the last year still only 1m transactions vs average of 1.6m

house prices
rising at about 6% pa, partly due to the improved feel-good factor across the country, so those who have equity are much more inclined to start house-hunting

letting market
remaining strong and likely to stay that way as first time buyers still struggle badly to buy without parental or similar help

Unbelievable, and Hays says these assessments are fair!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

http://www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2013/dec/09/atos-disabled-people-assessment-fit-work-report?CMP=twt_gu

More and more people are calling for ID Smiths head.

Dont forget it could be you Your family your relations your freinds who have to be assessed by this cruel organisation with a butcher as a minister guiding it.

Cyners if theirs no bubble why is Carney and as Carney already taken measures to reign in the governments help for mortgage lending?.

Is this the hazyone, manuel or somebody else?

sticky - there's somewhat conflicting evidence ...... on the one hand .....

house prices are rising at 6% pa; ergo a potential bubble i guess, though if more houses can be built, supply and demand start to equalise

on the other hand ....

it seems that mortgage money for real first time buyers remains tight unless they can use the bank of mum and dad for a decent deposit

in my opinion, the upper limit for help to buy is preposterous, and even for london suburbs, where prices are assuredly far higher than pretty much anywhere else, £450'ish will buy you something very respectable - but the borrower (+ partner?) would still need an income of about £100k to pass the other tests for affordability etc

as far as i can see, many would-be buyers have champagne aspirations and beer income .... if their sights were set at a more realistic level - e.g. a 1/2 bedroom flat perhaps in one of the less gentrified parts - then many more options appear

If rising house prices was a vote loser, do you think they would be going up?

that wasn't quite the point ..... as far as i am concerned, politics on this issue are merely a side issue and i'll try to stay away from that

Cyners yep agree with you............"in my opinion, the upper limit for help to buy is preposterous, and even for london suburbs, where prices are assuredly far higher than pretty much anywhere else, £450'ish will buy you something very respectable - but the borrower (+ partner?) would still need an income of about £100k to pass the other tests for affordability etc"......

How stringent are the tests?

certainly much tighter than they used to be when one could self-assess .... nevertheless, i think certain cases of estate agents "working the oracle" have recently been uncovered

I bet they have :-)

CYNERS from the FT....... Just out on twitter........

ECONOMYUK lending to first-time buyers at post-crisis high
7 minutes ago

Lending to first-time home buyers in the UK has surged to its highest level since the end of 2007, new data from the Bank of England show.

The value of residential mortgage loans extended to people making their first house purchases has jumped by nearly 40 per cent, to £9.9bn, over the past year - the highest level since the fourth quarter of 2007, the BoE said.

First-time buyers accounted for 20 per cent of the new residential lending granted in the third quarter of the year, the highest proportion since the data series began.

A further breakdown of the lending stats:

Gross advances, including lending to first-time buyers and buy-to-let lending and new commitments are at their highest levels since 2008;
Similarly, interest rates on new lending, the number of new arrears cases and stocks of possessions cases remaining unsold are at their lowest level since the series began in 2007.
The overall value of the residential loan amounts outstanding was £1,234 billion in Q3 2013, an increase of 0.3% compared with Q2.
Gross advances of £49.5 billion in Q3 2013 were 19% higher than in Q2 2013 – an upward movement usual in the third quarter of the year, but also 25% higher compared with the same quarter in 2012. This was the highest amount advanced in a quarter since Q3 2008.
Net advances in Q3 2013 amounted to £7.2 billion, which was 29% higher compared with Q3 2012.

Economy, UK

Jesus christ we do get them on money am these days.

I blame it on advfn stopping live links for non subscribers.

Best just to filter I suppose.

33845 - if that is indeed so, then i'm delighted to hear it, but i don't think that invalidates what i wrote earlier

Cyners to be honest I dont think anyone as a clue at the moment if the housing market is overheating or what. Seems to me like the economy its all REGIONAL, a lot more than it used to be.

That said I dont want central government leaning towards regional policys.

Labour Whips ‏@labourwhips 12m
Urgent Question from @RachelReevesMP granted on Government's Universal Credit shambles.

More 'urgent' nonsense from Labour.