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.

Perhaps, she has read the writing which is on the wall.

It's a bit of a stretch from visiting a furniture shop to then blaming Brexit and May for the fact that city centre shops are closing. It is a fact that people are turning more to buying online or from retail parks.
I have bought my last two pieces of furniture online. The latest was ordered more than two months ago and will be delivered tomorrow, so it was hardly gathering dust in some Amazon warehouse for the unwanted and unbought Brexit labelled tat.
The way we shop has changed and the councils have to recognise that and plan the change. Knock down the old shops, smarten the place up and build attractive inner town housing instead of encroaching more on green belt land with all the other infrastructure problems that brings with it.

"The way we shop has changed and the councils have to recognise that and plan the change. Knock down the old shops, smarten the place up and build attractive inner town housing instead of encroaching more on green belt land with all the other infrastructure problems that brings with it. "

I absolutely agree with this. Northampton for one, certainly needs exactly this sort of town centre revolution together with a bit of 'weather proofing' to go with it.

My wife has just told me, that Homebase has been sold for £1:

The Australian owner of Homebase has sold the DIY chain for £1, ending its disastrous foray into the UK.

Wesfarmers paid £340m for the retailer two years ago, but losses and other costs will bring its total bill to about £1bn.

The chain is being bought by restructuring specialist Hilco, which rescued music chain HMV in 2013.

The 24 stores that had been converted to the Bunnings brand will revert to the Homebase name.

Richard Lim, of consultancy Retail Economics, said the Wesfarmers takeover had been an "unbelievable disaster" due to "woeful management decisions, clumsy execution and a misguided perception of the UK market".

He expected the restructuring would result in store closures and more job losses on the High Street. Homebase has about 250 stores and 11,500 workers.

Hmmm? Are we about to go into a big recession?

If so, how unnecessary!

The climate didn't change before humans and recessions didn't happen before the word Brexit.

high street stores have been in decline for many years, and as on-line shopping gets ever moe popular, so it has accelerated

however, among others, there is strong growth in artisan and indy shops, though they have to have an identifiable usp with which the locals identify - eg a good butcher who really knows his trade, offers a personal and personable service and stocks top quality produce, perhaps locally sourced, can readily compete with the supermarket with its lower grade albeit cheaper offering

Doc,

Are you gammon?

:o)

Well spotted.

Rents and Rates are to high, all property is overvalued, the rich get richer, the poor - sod the poor it seems. Owners of commercial property are not willing to let it under a certain level, either because they want to sell it on at a premium or because they want to uphold the value of commercial property and would rather leave them empty and allow them to deteriorate than take losses.

Towns move to new areas as districts are regenerated, old shops change and often become social places before the planners with big money see a way of tearing them down to build large blocks of flats from which they then derive permanent income by way of service and maintenance work that they use names of other companies and enterprises for, (that they have interests in)that then afford them the long term gains they desire. Service Charges/ Management Fees - Instillation charges for things like Sky - Gardening -annual Survey Fees - Re-decoration every 5 years or so, Lift Service Charges - the list is endless.

Those unluckily enough to become unable to pay those ever increasing charges become the homeless poor, having purchased homes that are sold as affordable by companies and governments.

CT - you're a very bitter and twisted chap and what you write is (of course) not exactly accurate

you choose to paint all landlords as if they are in the rachman mould, which of course is a long way from the truth - but don't let such small things spoil your sourness

you imply that a great many tenants are the "poor oppressed" which again is far from the truth .......
were you a landlord in the lower or student or benefit-funded property market, you would quickly find out that many such tenants have no respect for their property and leave an appalling mess and worse .....
the normal 6-week deposit goes to nowhere to remedy such depradations

====================

rentals, whether residential or commercial are effectively set by the market ...... however, i do concur that some landlords are very greedy indeed ......

we have one such in my little home town where a single landlord has a stranglehold on the commercial properties and thus effectively sets the rental levels
however, i think this situation is something of a rarity


for myself, i happen to have a small freehold in central london, part residential and part commercial

on the residential side
i was staggered by the rental people (companies) will happily pay for a good property in really good condition, and of course in the right location
i charge no ground rent and i don't necessarily charge back all of the maintenance

on the commercial side
when first marketed in 2012, it happened that a AAA company turned up with a barrowload of money as a premium (which i had not asked for) and took a 10/15 year lease and at an excellent rental ...... in the review last year, the rental was left alone, which was what the market dictated

Of course some tenants abuse landlords and property in general, and fail to pay rents when due in some cases, that is why I have stopped renting out my commercial property and sold it all bar one that I use until such time I get the offer I cannot refuse.

The poor suffer because the rich can borrow money to buy property (flats in particular ) from developers and get guaranteed rent for several years in some cases, forcing up the price of these flats and underpinning the price. The only way to stop this process is either to make money more expensive or give a right to buy to tenants.

ignoring most of the stuff (rubbish) you write, why would any landlord then buy a property and then let it out so his tenant can buy it on the cheap?
i know i wouldn't
and of course the tenant could then sit on the property for a shortish time and make a massive gain when on-selling - but is that different?

and how do you propose making money more expensive without affecting all and sundry?
try thinking about it

and if you think it is easy for anyone to borrow money, especially for buy-to-let, then you really are living in another world

Anyone with decent assets can borrow money with ease. Tenants would have to be in a property for say five years before they had a right to buy. Money has been to cheap for to long, only benefiting the rich - as I have got older and richer I have become more enlightened and unlike the likes of an old cynic that I expect that is happy to bleed any tenant for the most obtainable, I would like to see a more even distribution of assets and in homes for everyone that has been born in Britain.

Of course making money more expensive will hit a lot of people in the same way as failing to withdraw from the customs union will be a big mistake if May fails in her duty to the people.

Let us get out and deal with the problems, if any, as they hit us, we are resilient and industrious as a nation.

you really do talk such a load of bollocks, and have no grip on the real world let alone the consequences of what your airy-fairy fantasies would bring in their wake (not that they would ever become actuality)

are you sure you don't live in a squat in some dilapidated ivory tower

cynic, No wonder Fred treats you with contempt showing yourself to be such a know all self centered prick and unable to think outside the box. Have a good long weekend and come back with an open mind having taken your head out of your backside and giving it a good wash.

i have an open mind and seen inside yours too ... sadly there was nothing inside yours except a few discombobulated bats

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-44283507

Many Mums and Dads (if it is one sided) are left regreting helping their kids buy property, as often they are gifting 50% to the partner/wife/husband when they part ways. Do they then help a second time around?

depends on how the parents set up the help

I bet the bulk are not cynical, whenhey give money and take the trouble to set the gift up in a way, that says " I do not really trust you", and they think their sons/daughter`s other half will stay with them for life when they gift money towards the purchase of a home.

The problem also is that nobody once they are on the property ladder wants home prices to fall, and the same goes for buy to let, which has caused the huge increase in home prices, as people buy property because the return is far better than in the bank. Many also borrow on the basis that the tenant will buy it for them over a number of years, becoming their pension.

Governments will never tackle the problem, and neither will the rich or those that aspire to be rich, as they cannot face the prospects of lower home prices.

It is all a great big bubble.

trust does not come into the equation
also, when divorce settlements are made, i am sure i am right in saying that the judge (if it gets to court) takes into account how much each partner has put into an asset like a house, as well as the rest of the relationship




buy-to-let is a completely different issue

many bought such properties without decent thought or advice, and yes, of course with a view to it being a growing asset, the rental ideally paying the mortgage costs
what's wrong with that?

in fact, quite a lot of such investors have now caught a cold for all sorts of reasons, whether it is a change in the tax laws, falling property prices and rentals, and having the property left empty between lettings ....... many other costs involved too

do you have an issue with people who "aspire to be rich"?

Far from having an issue with people that aspire to be rich, I have aproblem with the fact that young people are priced out of owning their homes, due in part to the increasing prices of homes, that is caused by some of the factors I have addressed in earler posts.

Nobody in Government would vote for anything that would lower home prices, as they would fear being voted out when they next came uo for election.

Nobody that owns property ever wants to see prices falling.

The Banks - Mortgage providers worry about falling house prices and negative equity.

Low interest rates drive money being put into buy to let, and buying as an investment.

Unless there is a radical change in policy there will always be a huge divide and increase the likelyhood of social unrest.