Current Affairs 2023

[Stephen]

Can’t see it taking off myself.

[oldbluefox]

There are loads of lovely terraced homes up here going from £85k upwards, ideal for first home buyers. Unfortunately many young people's (unrealistic) expectations are much higher than that. Added to that they do like to have a good time, something we could not afford when we were saving up for our first house.
Up here in Cumbria, especially in the National Park, many of the smaller cottages have been bought up as second homes or holiday lets. A walk around Keswick is pretty depressing when you see whole streets taken over by commercial holiday rentals. The knock on effect is that the local shops and businesses are now struggling to get staff.
We recently stayed in the Cotswolds and was talking to a local who told us his village of beautiful houses was mostly second homes for wealthy London business people and was deserted for much of the winter. Local shops, schools, village halls and pubs had closed down long ago because there were insufficient people year long for them to survive. The trend should have been curbed long ago.

[Ray B]

Foxy, down here in the beautiful East, you may be lucky to pick up a 150 year old terrace house for £200,000 in our city, if you looked hard enough !

[Mervyn and Trish]

My Dad retired to Devon and complained about the tourists and second home owners. I suggested he move to Wigan.....

[Stephen]

Welcome to the club Merv. The drinks are on you

[towny44]

There are loads of lovely terraced homes up here going from £85k upwards, ideal for first home buyers. Unfortunately many young people's (unrealistic) expectations are much higher than that. Added to that they do like to have a good time, something we could not afford when we were saving up for our first house.
Up here in Cumbria, especially in the National Park, many of the smaller cottages have been bought up as second homes or holiday lets. A walk around Keswick is pretty depressing when you see whole streets taken over by commercial holiday rentals. The knock on effect is that the local shops and businesses are now struggling to get staff.
We recently stayed in the Cotswolds and was talking to a local who told us his village of beautiful houses was mostly second homes for wealthy London business people and was deserted for much of the winter. Local shops, schools, village halls and pubs had closed down long ago because there were insufficient people year long for them to survive. The trend should have been curbed long ago.

That is an interesting point Foxy, however there would not be as many holiday let's if there was no demand for them. We have had 3 very enjoyable holidays in holiday cottages with our eldest son and his Mil, and we are hoping to find another nice cottage for next Spring. When you live in a capitalist economy you have to accept the laws of supply and demand, or you can opt to live in Russia and go without many of the things we enjoy.

[Stephen]

I can recommend a nice place John if your prepared to venture South

[Onelife]

There are loads of lovely terraced homes up here going from £85k upwards, ideal for first home buyers. Unfortunately many young people's (unrealistic) expectations are much higher than that. Added to that they do like to have a good time, something we could not afford when we were saving up for our first house.
Up here in Cumbria, especially in the National Park, many of the smaller cottages have been bought up as second homes or holiday lets. A walk around Keswick is pretty depressing when you see whole streets taken over by commercial holiday rentals. The knock on effect is that the local shops and businesses are now struggling to get staff.
We recently stayed in the Cotswolds and was talking to a local who told us his village of beautiful houses was mostly second homes for wealthy London business people and was deserted for much of the winter. Local shops, schools, village halls and pubs had closed down long ago because there were insufficient people year long for them to survive. The trend should have been curbed long ago.

That is an interesting point Foxy, however there would not be as many holiday let's if there was no demand for them. We have had 3 very enjoyable holidays in holiday cottages with our eldest son and his Mil, and we are hoping to find another nice cottage for next Spring. When you live in a capitalist economy you have to accept the laws of supply and demand, or you can opt to live in Russia and go without many of the things we enjoy.

Whilst I accept your point John, it could be argued that infrequent visits to holiday homes/cottages puts very little back into the stability/viability of village life/communities. The supply and demand theory only holds up until there isn’t a next generation to follow on from the old.

[oldbluefox]

..........which explains why I deliberately used the word 'curbed'.

When the commercial interests of holiday letting agencies, air bnbs, second home owners get out of hand it means that whole communities are decimated. Young people who would normally buy the cheaper little cottages cannot compete and are priced out of the market. Come winter, these places are dead and empty and much of what people come to enjoy then disappears. The equilibrium between tourism and local communities has been broken, not only in the Lake District but in many of the National Parks to the detriment of tourists and locals alike.

[oldbluefox]

My response to solving the affordable housing market.............prefabricated accommodation - cheap, quick to put up and with modern production methods should be readily available. Now tell me why not!!!!

[Onelife]

My response to solving the affordable housing market.............prefabricated accommodation - cheap, quick to put up and with modern production methods should be readily available. Now tell me why not!!!!

Given a good build design, decent plot of land and green street landscaping then I can’t see why not.

[david63]

Now tell me why not!!!!

Because many of today's first time buyers don't want that - they want a brand new four bedroom detached house in a prime location at the price of a two up two down terraced house.

[Stephen]

My response to solving the affordable housing market.............prefabricated accommodation - cheap, quick to put up and with modern production methods should be readily available. Now tell me why not!!!!

They we called council houses in my day Foxy.

[towny44]

My response to solving the affordable housing market.............prefabricated accommodation - cheap, quick to put up and with modern production methods should be readily available. Now tell me why not!!!!

Probably because they would be classed as "non standard construction', and therefore difficult to get a mortgage when/if the tenant wants to buy.

[Onelife]

I think mortgage lenders need to take a different attitude towards prefabricated houses. With Scandinavian building codes there doesn’t appear to much difference between conventional built houses… indeed, from what I have been reading there are many advantages for going prefab, not least the many styles available and more economic heat savings.

I can think of many areas of the country where the building of large-scale timber clad housing would go down very well.

I certainly wouldn’t dissuade our daughter from considering one if it was built to the standards of those in Nordic countries.

[Ray B]

Yesterday a red weather warning was issued for Brechin and surrounding areas in Scotland warning of possible threat to life. An evacuation request for residents to get out, but for some a request that seems to not to apply to them.
Emergency teams have received over 100 requests for help, putting their lives at risk, just because some people do not seem aware of their surroundings and if it's a flood risk area and not listening to those that do.
It's not something I need to worry about, Norwich would be under water by the time any flooding would affect me, live at the top of a hill.

[paultheagle]

I see the Tories took another kicking in yesterday's by-elections, Labour overturning hugh majorities. The conservatives blamed voters apathy.

I think there might be a lot more to it than that, the Tories have got a massive amount of work to do if they want to win the next General Election.

[Onelife]

Yesterday a red weather warning was issued for Brechin and surrounding areas in Scotland warning of possible threat to life. An evacuation request for residents to get out, but for some a request that seems to not to apply to them.
Emergency teams have received over 100 requests for help, putting their lives at risk, just because some people do not seem aware of their surroundings and if it's a flood risk area and not listening to those that do.
It's not something I need to worry about, Norwich would be under water by the time any flooding would affect me, live at the top of a hill.

Our village was cut off due to flooding this morning so I’ve been out clearing drains…thankfully no flooded houses thus far but more rain expected later.

[Onelife]

I see the Tories took another kicking in yesterday's by-elections, Labour overturning hugh majorities. The conservatives blamed voters apathy.

I think there might be a lot more to it than that, the Tories have got a massive amount of work to do if they want to win the next General Election.

It’s looking a lost cause for the conservatives…people are starting to realise that our present political system/conservative party is broken.

[Ray B]

Sometimes you can't take a lot from a by-election, but it does look like the writings on the wall after the two Labour victories.

[towny44]

I see the Tories took another kicking in yesterday's by-elections, Labour overturning hugh majorities. The conservatives blamed voters apathy.

I think there might be a lot more to it than that, the Tories have got a massive amount of work to do if they want to win the next General Election.

It’s looking a lost cause for the conservatives…people are starting to realise that our present political system/conservative party is broken.

I do look forward to reading your posts after the next GE, assuming that labour win, I expect they will be very interesting.

[paultheagle]

I see the Tories took another kicking in yesterday's by-elections, Labour overturning hugh majorities. The conservatives blamed voters apathy.

I think there might be a lot more to it than that, the Tories have got a massive amount of work to do if they want to win the next General Election.

It’s looking a lost cause for the conservatives…people are starting to realise that our present political system/conservative party is broken.

I do look forward to reading your posts after the next GE, assuming that labour win, I expect they will be very interesting.

For the first 10 years of a Labour Government I'll be doing exactly what the Conservatives have done and that's blame the Opposition for all the mess that the country is in. After that it will be Thatchers fault.

[Onelife]

It’s looking a lost cause for the conservatives…people are starting to realise that our present political system/conservative party is broken.

I do look forward to reading your posts after the next GE, assuming that labour win, I expect they will be very interesting.

For the first 10 years of a Labour Government I'll be doing exactly what the Conservatives have done and that's blame the Opposition for all the mess that the country is in. After that it will be Thatchers fault.

It’s the political fall back strategy which compounds the lethargy voters now have for UK politics.

[Onelife]

If the conservatives want to salvage anything from yesterday’s disastrous result, they should ask Rishi to step down in favour of what I believe would be the people’s choice for PM ...Respected Penny Mordaunt who would have the best chance of uniting the many camps that exist within the conservative party.

I won’t be rushing to place a bet on this happening but the writing is on the wall if they don't.

[towny44]

I am beginning to think that Gillian Keegan could well be a front runner if the Tories lose and Rishi resigns, and as education secretary there is a precedent for her to get the top job.