Lockdown ? What Lockdown?

[Jennifer McM]

Just now, Richard10002 said:

That ought to be unbelievable but, sadly, it will not be uncommon  

We did have a poster in the window saying we were isolating...... BIG MISTAKE - it made us a target.

[mrsmelly]

1 minute ago, Richard10002 said:

That ought to be unbelievable but, sadly, it will not be uncommon  

Its sad but true of society today and sometimes you have to treat fire with fire. 

[Guest]

Whatever the 'science' around this I can certainly empathise with any boater who feels uncomfortable with hordes of people passing so close at regular intervals. Especially when some will be runners and cyclists.

 

CRT recognise this concern and permit boaters to move if they find thselves in such situations. There is no real issue here. IMHO of course.

[Sir Nibble]

10 minutes ago, Jennifer McM said:

We're in that situation. Boat's moored with our one hatch over the canal and not the towpath. Every thing that opens on the towpath side is shut, except the bathroom porthole window for a few hours a day. Front canopy is also zipped shut on the towpath side. No getting the garden chairs out ? 

 

We've had a little sod spitting on their hands and running the spit along the camp rail. Went over the area with the dettol - it's so easy to 'lose it' (bless them ?).

 

 

 

Blu tac razor blades to the underside of the rail.

[Richard10002]

1 minute ago, mrsmelly said:

I am suggesting that there are people out there who can afford and do afford several houses, sometimes hundreds. I have a friend with four all bought to make money. This keeps the rental market higher and rising for many people. People buy and sell purely to make money and theres thousands of people doing it and that makes things more expensive for the low income bod at the bottom. Property prices have risen and are still rising at an obscene rate. 

So you are not suggesting that there shouldn't be a private rental market at all then. You are just complaining about something that has been going on for decades/centuries in one form or another. Something that wouldn't exist if there were no demand for it. Have you got a suggestion or two as possible solutions? I have been making them for years.

 

On the people doing it to make money - No Shit Sherlock!! Of course they do, otherwise they would be doing it to lose money.

 

People have been doing this since time began, (again... you know what I mean!!), so why has it all of a sudden become wrong?

 

On the rental market being kept higher - supply and demand suggests that the more property is available to rent, the lower rents will be.

 

On the rental market, you could ask your government to build the millions of social houses they keep promising.... that would help reduce rents.

 

On the owning market, there is no doubt that where demand for property exceeds supply, prices will rise. If people buying houses to rent out increase demand and prices, then it does increase prices for everyone, including the low income bod.

 

As above, you could ask your government to build all those millions of houses they keep promising us..... that would help reduce house prices.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

2 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

So you are not suggesting that there shouldn't be a private rental market at all then. You are just complaining about something that has been going on for decades/centuries in one form or another. Something that wouldn't exist if there were no demand for it. Have you got a suggestion or two as possible solutions? I have been making them for years.

 

On the people doing it to make money - No Shit Sherlock!! Of course they do, otherwise they would be doing it to lose money.

 

People have been doing this since time began, (again... you know what I mean!!), so why has it all of a sudden become wrong?

 

On the rental market being kept higher - supply and demand suggests that the more property is available to rent, the lower rents will be.

 

On the rental market, you could ask your government to build the millions of social houses they keep promising.... that would help reduce rents.

 

On the owning market, there is no doubt that where demand for property exceeds supply, prices will rise. If people buying houses to rent out increase demand and prices, then it does increase prices for everyone, including the low income bod.

 

As above, you could ask your government to build all those millions of houses they keep promising us..... that would help reduce house prices.

 

 

Two things. Firstly rents did not start to rise in an obscene manner until as very recently as the 1970s. For many decades prior they remained quite stable and well within the reach of every body. Secondly I keep waiting but whenever we have a labour government ( not very often luckily ) I expect them to build millions of houses but they never seem to do it as the conservatives have built more than they ever did.

[Alan de Enfield]

1 hour ago, Machpoint005 said:

 

What can they do?

 

 

 

Lower the average figure so more are above it.

[George and Dragon]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_rent_control_in_England_and_Wales

The history of rent control in England and Wales is a part of English land law concerning the development of rent regulation in England and Wales. Controlling the prices that landlords could make their tenants pay formed the main element of rent regulation, and was in place from 1915 until its abolition (excluding some council houses) by the Housing Act 1988.

 

[Richard10002]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

Two things. Firstly rents did not start to rise in an obscene manner until as very recently as the 1970s. For many decades prior they remained quite stable and well within the reach of every body. Secondly I keep waiting but whenever we have a labour government ( not very often luckily ) I expect them to build millions of houses but they never seem to do it as the conservatives have built more than they ever did.

So what?

 

 is the first thought that comes to mind. You started this little bit by ranting about people who own property to rent out and make money.

 

The fact is that they are responding to a demand... people willingly buy what is on offer, mostly at the price asked. In addition, given the way that governments and markets can behave, they also a bit of a risk with quite a lot of money.

 

another thought that comes to mind is that it doesn't seem to matter which government is in power, they do little/nothing to change things for you, despite having more power over the issue than any other single thing or body.

 

 

[mrsmelly]

3 minutes ago, Richard10002 said:

So what?

 

 is the first thought that comes to mind. You started this little bit by ranting about people who own property to rent out and make money.

 

The fact is that they are responding to a demand... people willingly buy what is on offer, mostly at the price asked. In addition, given the way that governments and markets can behave, they also a bit of a risk with quite a lot of money.

 

another thought that comes to mind is that it doesn't seem to matter which government is in power, they do little/nothing to change things for you, despite having more power over the issue than any other single thing or body.

 

 

Like I said. Did you use to be an estate agent? Most of them are lower than a rattlesnakes balls when it comes to morals ?

[Momac]

1 hour ago, mrsmelly said:

.......as very recently as the 1970s. 

1970 was half a century ago.

I don't think that counts  as very recently.

 

I agree rent does  seem very high , but can you blame people for asking the market value ?

Good landlords ask a little less than market value from good  long term tenants.

 

I think there are companies that will buy your house for cash at less than market value ,  if that is what you prefer to do.

.

[system 4-50]

In the light of Covid19 I think that my 17" (I think) ally wheels are not sufficient for distancing my boat from the towpath.  Has anybody got any links where I might find used tractor tyres (the big ones) going cheap?  

A pic of how they would look on a narrowboat would also be good, if somebody has done this already.  

Secondhand ones from the BCN on a buyer-collects basis are not wanted.

[mrsmelly]

3 minutes ago, MartynG said:

1970 was half a century ago.

I don't think that counts  as very recently.

 

I agree rent does  seem very high , but can you blame people for asking the market value ?

Good landlords ask a little less than market value from good  long term tenants.

 

I think there are companies that will buy your house for cash at less than market value ,  if that is what you prefer to do.

.

I agree that you have to ask market value as everything we all do is linked to market value. Hopefuly covid will crash the housing market bringing the overall cost of things down for people so they can have a life rather than a debt. I am fine as we are more than happy with our chosen debt free lifestyle and all our kids are doing well but there are many out there with little chance of a sensible rental let alone purchase. The seventies aint that long ago there are billions of people still alive that were around in the 1970s.

[Momac]

33 minutes ago, mrsmelly said:

Hopefuly covid will crash the housing market bringing the overall cost of things down for people so they can have a life rather than a debt. 

That's no good if unemployment is sky high and salaries static or reduced  at the same time , which will probably  hit the very people to which you refer.

 

 

 

[Victor Vectis]

5 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

If they are buy to let as a nailed on way to make money at the expense of others then no sympathy from myself. Its a whole bag of worms but homes should be to live in and not to make money but we are all stuck with the lousy system that we have.

Amen to the above.

 

What gets up my nose is the use of the word 'property' to describe bricks and mortar.

Property implies, to my mind at least, a commodity that can be bought or sold in a market for profit or loss.

 

But what we are talking about here are people's homes, their place of safety, of rest at the end of a day, their safe place.

NOT something to be traded for profit by a third party.

[Richard10002]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Like I said. Did you use to be an estate agent? Most of them are lower than a rattlesnakes balls when it comes to morals ?

I still don't see how that is relevant, and why you resort to insult when you have no answer.

 

From what you have said, it seems it is the making of money at someone else's expense, is the thing you have a problem with?

[Victor Vectis]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Like I said. Did you use to be an estate agent? Most of them are lower than a rattlesnakes balls when it comes to morals ?

Much like buy to let landlords, IMHO.

Edited April 19, 2020 by Victor Vectis
Slipped finger, oops.

[Richard10002]

1 hour ago, MartynG said:

That's no good if unemployment is sky high and salaries static or reduced  at the same time , which will probably  hit the very people to which you refer.

 

 

 

Yes... Smelly doesn't seem to understand that, if he gets his way, all the people he thinks might benefit will actually be well and truly screwed. It's probably something to do with his, "I'm All Right Jack" attitude to life.

[MHS]

2 hours ago, mrsmelly said:

Hopefuly covid will crash the housing market bringing the overall cost of things down for people so they can have a life rather than a debt. I am fine as we are more than happy with our chosen debt free lifestyle and all our kids are doing well but there are many out there with little chance of a sensible rental let alone purchase. The seventies aint that long ago there are billions of people still alive that were around in the 1970s.

Sadly if your wish comes true and prices crash, you will leave many hardworking families in negative equity. What about younger people who have managed  to buy their first home? How would you then help them?

[frahkn]

2 hours ago, MHS said:

Sadly if your wish comes true and prices crash, you will leave many hardworking families in negative equity. What about younger people who have managed  to buy their first home? How would you then help them?

I am retired and my mortgage is paid so perhaps my view is biased. I simply have never understood "negative equity"; every house I have bought has been for my family to live in. If the house is worth less than the outstanding mortgage, so what, I'm not paying more and it doesn't affect the property (e.g. the roof won't leak as a result of the negativeness). I'll have a smaller deposit if I have to move but presumably I'm in a falling market so I'll need less.

 

Your shelter should not be treated as an investment, whatever the current state of the market. Also "hardworking families" has become a political term with very little real meaning, unless we also assume that there are "dossing families" who deserve what they get.

[MHS]

5 hours ago, frahkn said:

I am retired and my mortgage is paid so perhaps my view is biased. I simply have never understood "negative equity"; every house I have bought has been for my family to live in. If the house is worth less than the outstanding mortgage, so what, I'm not paying more and it doesn't affect the property (e.g. the roof won't leak as a result of the negativeness). I'll have a smaller deposit if I have to move but presumably I'm in a falling market so I'll need less.

 

Your shelter should not be treated as an investment, whatever the current state of the market. Also "hardworking families" has become a political term with very little real meaning, unless we also assume that there are "dossing families" who deserve what they get.

You make no mention of the need to sell. They are more likely to move areas early in their lives as they change jobs. Or up-size if they start a family. This becomes difficult in negative equity, as they cannot discharge the mortgage on the sale of their house. Some lenders will actually block sales. The young buyer then often ends up with a bigger debt. 

 

Young people are not thinking of their home as an investment. Surely you remember the excitement of buying your first home? We had a big mortgage and would have never been able to set up our business, employing staff for 30 years if we had been crippled by debt in our 20’s. 

[Parahandy]

13 hours ago, matty40s said:

So as per gov advice, you wash your hands...

I think you would agree Matty that having lots of People congregating on a towpath is both undesirable and if they are not engaged in the specified permitted activities against the government instruction too . CRT presumably saw there was an issue or else they wouldn't have bothered to issue guidance . The issue as I see it is twofold , the Public not obeying the guidance and CRT not in some Areas closing the Towpath , the latter of course many will disagree with . Its not a question of People taking exercise , its the sunbathing on canal benches , its the fishing , its the complete ignoring of social distancing as People with no work to do stand outside admiring and comparing boats after arriving with bagfuls of Bread they have previously stockpiled and proceed to scatter on towpaths feeding rats instead of birds . sorry for what seems like a rant Matty but we see this every day down here . I dont believe CRT have acted strongly enough , it seems to me the Foot and Mouth restrictions back in BW days were far much better though I take the point we didn't have People furloughed from work wandering around aimlessly . I conclude that this Lockdown in my view will be unenforceable by the end of May owing to People disregarding it and Industry facing extinction .

[Momac]

I rented in the 1980's for a couple of years and paid the same or greater  in rent as  we eventually did in mortgage . Nothing has changed except interest rates are much lower now and house prices a bigger multiple of salary. Monthly mortgage payments as  a portion of salary aren't much different to the 1980's . 

 

It seems a good investment to buy your own house as  with time the mortgage payments become much less than rent, eventually becoming rent free. There are of course maintenance costs to pay but overall owning your own house is a good deal.

The money value of the house is less important as you have to live somewhere - however buying rather than renting remains  the best plan.

 

The thing that has changed is people don't typically commit to marriage in their 20's anymore . Instead they live separate lives , then live together than have kids then marry (maybe). Divorces and separations are common. No commitment . This is partially why people cant afford mortgages

 

Living on a boat and not owning a house seems to me  bad plan. It would be wise to keep a house in case , for health reasons , boating becomes no longer viable.  This happened to a couple I knew some years ago. They has sold their house and used the money to buy a narrowboat.  A few years later the narrowboat was worth the same money but house prices had gone up . They had to rent in retirement.Not good.

 

[LadyG]

On 17/04/2020 at 15:14, haggis said:

Oh, yes, I remember them too! I LOVED the malt stuff. Having lots of brothers and a sister we used to line up in the morning for our share. I can't remember any of us not liking our daily doses. If we got cod liver oil capsules, I crunched them ?

 

Haggis

Virol

[Victor Vectis]

1 hour ago, MHS said:

Young people are not thinking of their home as an investment.

< snipped >

Because they see it as their home rather than something to be traded, perhaps?