The Night Mail

[Winslow Boy]

3 minutes ago, SM42 said:

 

I thought that was a different establishment. 

 

Andy

Your thinking of the one that flashes. We won't say what the neighbours think of that one.

[SM42]

Just now, Happy Hippo said:

Could you not stay warm and dry in a caff that serves cake?

 

We have lots of leftover cake from yesterday. 

 

The nephew's was a Manchester City ( I know, I know) themed iced triple layer Victoria sponge. 

 

Mrs SM42's ( 3 weeks early) was a black forest gateaux type and then there was home made LDC. 

 

This was all washed down with burnt sugar flavoured vodka.

 

Cold and wet I can manage for a while knowing there is cake to warm me up. 

 

Andy

[Winslow Boy]

5 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Could you not stay warm and dry in a caff that serves cake?

I thought that was how he lost the filling in the first place. Are you trying to encourage him to set a record for losing a filling.

[SM42]

23 minutes ago, Winslow Boy said:

I thought that was how he lost the filling in the first place. Are you trying to encourage him to set a record for losing a filling.

 

I didn't lose the filling. It was the tooth round it. 

 

No idea how or when

 

Andy

[polybear]

3 hours ago, SM42 said:

 

That would destroy the rental sector and the housing supply wouldn't change. 

 

 

By "second house" I was thinking more of those that have a main property plus a second one on the coast etc. that they only use perhaps a few times a year, rather than a rental property.

 

54 minutes ago, SM42 said:

We have lots of leftover cake from yesterday. 

 

"Leftover Cake"??

What's that?  

[Oldddudders]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

 

By "second house" I was thinking more of those that have a main property plus a second one on the coast etc. that they only use perhaps a few times a year, rather than a rental property.

 

 

"Leftover Cake"??

What's that?  

Very hard to identify those second properties, since the owner will be paying council tax etc as if they lived there full-time, whereas tenanted property taxes are paid by the tenant. Any attempt by government to get a register of such places with a view to regulation would hit a storm of protest from wealthy people who tend to support governments.....

[PhilJ W]

7 minutes ago, Oldddudders said:

Very hard to identify those second properties, since the owner will be paying council tax etc as if they lived there full-time, whereas tenanted property taxes are paid by the tenant. Any attempt by government to get a register of such places with a view to regulation would hit a storm of protest from wealthy people who tend to support governments..... a particular political party.

A small amendment.

[Oldddudders]

3 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

A small amendment.

Point taken, but I feel compared to our youth, that the two principal parties are no longer so clearly defined as toffs and cloth caps. 

[PhilJ W]

4 hours ago, SM42 said:

Planning permission to expire after say 12 months on developments of more than 5 dwellings ( 2 years for smaller projects) unless at least a certain percentage are completed and on sale in that time,  for instance, would keep the larger developers moving, while allowing the smaller projects more time. 

 

More social housing and restricting right to buy would help as that would maintain the rental sector supply for those who can't get credit. 

 

There are many structural issues in both the housing market and the economy as a whole that cause the problems we have. 

 

Controlling the housing market would be a  start but not the whole solution.

 

Solving the other issues for many a political party would be a step too far and I daresay the for the voting public too. 

 

Andy

Right to buy is a major factor in the housing crisis. I would replace it with an assisted purchase scheme whereby public housing tenants were to be given a sum equivalent to (or more) than the discount under right to buy to use as a deposit on a home of their own. Land to build the new houses could initially be publicly owned and building of houses be let out to construction companies per unit at a negotiated price and with a time limit. These properties could then be sold to those on assisted purchase. Many of those acquiring their homes under right to buy were 'getting on a bit' and were living in houses to big for their requirements and soon sold up and downsized, often moving to where property was cheaper. 

 

4 hours ago, iL Dottore said:

Second homes? In many parts of Switzerland second homes have made the difference between small villages dying or surviving. With shrinking populations (as most of these little places have little in the way of employment opportunities), second home owners bring in much needed income to keep the infrastructure ticking over. Second home owners not only pay local taxes etc. but also pay a small extra tax for being a second home owner.

That is the big difference, here in the UK second home owners do not pay an extra tax on second (or third or fourth homes) but get a 50% reduction in local taxes*. This applies to any home that is not registered as a first home so one could have as many 'second' homes as one pleases and only pay 50% local taxes. Furthermore some second home owners can flip their properties. They could have their main residence in an urban area where local taxes are high and a second home where taxes are low so they swap them over to where the property in the high tax area becomes the 'second home' and the low tax property becomes the main residence.

*Those of us who live alone such as @polybear, @DaveF and myself only get 25% single occupancy discount. 

[Tony_S]

1 hour ago, PhilJ W said:

here in the UK second home owners do not pay an extra tax on second (or third or fourth homes) but get a 50% reduction in local taxes*. This applies to any home that is not registered as a first home so one could have as many 'second' homes as one pleases and only pay 50% local taxes.

The council tax situation will change in 2025. At the moment second home charges by local councils are set by councils , a discount might be zero, might be 50% (source gov.uk website). Of course some register their second home as a business and advertise its availability for letting. That can be tax advantageous too, but that sort of thing would confuse me. 

Edited March 25 by Tony_S

[Tony_S]

From June 2025 Southend will add a 100% premium charge on top of full council tax for second home, non permanent resident properties. 
 

[Tony_S]

Anyway I don’t have a second home to worry about, so made up a cable for my layout.  I extended the non scenic part a bit  recently and when standing next to it none of the cabled Dcc controllers would reach. So, this morning I managed to organise myself adequately to get all the bits together to make a 4metre Xpressnet lead. It all works though I had a slight furrowing of brow trying to find out why the cable stripper didn’t. There was a bit of cable sheath from last time in the blade holder. Checking the cable before I thread it under and through baseboards is I think a good idea. 

Tony

[iL Dottore]

Returning to the subject of second homes: Switzerland may not be perfect, but it gets an awful lot of things right, such as the matter of second homes:

“Like Swiss citizens, foreign nationals cannot build a second home in municipalities where more than 20% of properties are already secondary residences” (https://www.swissinfo.ch/eng/banking-fintech/buying-property-in-switzerland/29263024#:~:text=Foreigners are allowed to buy,the buyer's country of origin.&text=Switzerland has a specific federal,former justice minister Arnold Koller).“

[Happy Hippo]

54 minutes ago, Tony_S said:

From June 2025 Southend will add a 100% premium charge on top of full council tax for second home, non permanent resident properties. 
 

Catching up with Wales!

 

Copied from the Welsh Government website:

 

Since 1 April 2017, local authorities in Wales have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% of the standard rate of council tax on long-term empty dwellings and dwellings occupied periodically (more commonly referred to as second homes) in their areas. From 1 April 2023, the maximum level at which local authorities can set council tax premiums will increase to 300%. The powers given to local authorities are discretionary so whether to charge a premium on long-term empty properties or second homes (or both) is, therefore a decision to be made by each local authority.

[PhilJ W]

3 hours ago, Oldddudders said:

Point taken, but I feel compared to our youth, that the two principal parties are no longer so clearly defined as toffs and cloth caps. 

Agreed, the current leader of the 'cloth cap' party is a millionaire as was Tony Blair.

[Erichill16]

18 hours ago, polybear said:

 

Our resident Drug Dealer @Erichill16 has discovered Opera

 

 

Hmmmmmm…….

Dont think so.

 

[polybear]

1 hour ago, Tony_S said:

From June 2025 Southend will add a 100% premium charge on top of full council tax for second home, non permanent resident properties. 
 

Er, why would anyone want a second home in……Southend??

[Winslow Boy]

Lots of interesting comments being contributed to how to resolve the housing crisis and also the way respective societies exercise there rights.

I will throw my two pennyworth in for what it's worth.

I think over the last sixty odd years there has been a progressive movement in this country towards what I would class as a Continental way of governance. This too me is demonstrated in there being more control over what and how people live there lives. Now I'm not criticising that or advocating it but rather just pointing it out.

There has always been an element of this through out our history- you only need to look at the law to see that the bulk of it reflects issues to do with ownership and hence control to see that. This has in turn shaped the British character, which has to me at least, been more independent minded than some of our Continental brethren. Whether that independence has been fertilized by the British class system could be, but the fact that the ownership of land/property is highly prized is surely a indication of that. The rises in property value is surely seen as a way of bettering oneself.

[TheQ]

5 minutes ago, PhilJ W said:

Agreed, the current leader of the 'cloth cap' party is a millionaire as was Tony Blair.

As almost all PMs and leaders of the opposition have been in the last hundred years. That " old Etonian" Boris was actually one of the poorest PMs. ( Mostly cos dad is still alive, so he hasn't inherited yet)

 

Remember most MPs have two homes,  their constituency home and their London home. Often subsidised by us. If they were " parachuted in" to a constituency then they may have three homes, their real one, the constituency one and the London one. Anyway that means MPs in general have no inclination to make it too painful to second home owners.

 

Second homers in Southend? It's a holiday area therefore there are many "second homes", they are rented out / airbnb  for much of the year. Up here in Norfolk in some villages 80% of the houses are" second homes", the busiest time for road traffic here is Friday afternoons and Monday mornings with the londoners arriving for the weekends though WFH has reduced that a little.

 

[Tony_S]

13 minutes ago, polybear said:

Er, why would anyone want a second home in……Southend??

I wouldn’t because it would be silly only living a few miles away. 

[AndyID]

23 minutes ago, Happy Hippo said:

Catching up with Wales!

 

Copied from the Welsh Government website:

 

Since 1 April 2017, local authorities in Wales have been able to charge a premium of up to 100% of the standard rate of council tax on long-term empty dwellings and dwellings occupied periodically (more commonly referred to as second homes) in their areas. From 1 April 2023, the maximum level at which local authorities can set council tax premiums will increase to 300%. The powers given to local authorities are discretionary so whether to charge a premium on long-term empty properties or second homes (or both) is, therefore a decision to be made by each local authority.

 

The same as here (in Idaho). Full time residents get a substantial discount on their property tax.

 

I'm a bit nervous to point out that for a few years we didn't own two homes, we had three! This place which we bought 28 years ago, a house in Southern California while I was working there for six years before I retired and a small apartment half way between the two at Park City in Utah which was mainly for skiing.

 

When I got the job in CA we decided not to sell this place because it seemed like the ideal retirement home. It's fortunate that we didn't sell it because this area was "discovered" about twenty years ago and the value of this place has increased 350% since then.

 

The other two properties were sold when I retired.

[34theletterbetweenB&D]

My colossal costly mistake, having twice ridden the seven year 'sawtooth' peak to trough cycle of the one time UK housing market to great advantage, was selling the previous home in 1995 when prices last 'troughed'. Should have hung on to it and rented it out; last year what I sold 28 years before for £82K was sold for £550K. Ouch. Where's that reliable cyclic behaviour gone?

[Canal Digger]

My sixpennyworth ...

A few years ago we did part of the Irish Wild Atlantic Way, in a campervan hired from Dublin. Made our way up to the NE corner and worked our way anti-clockwise until we ran out of time part way down the west coast. Then back to Dublin, back into our car, south to Rosslare via beautiful Wicklow Mts, caught ferry to Fishguard and M4 etc to home.

The worst part, the depressing, mile after mile, village merging into village, Ribbon Development in County Donegal. Empty, modern bungalows, low maintenance gardens, tightly drawn curtains. Luckily in the van we could see beyond these 2nd homes but if you were in a car, hard luck.  Local economy = lawn cutting

[Dave Hunt]

1 hour ago, polybear said:

Er, why would anyone want a second home in……Southend??

 

If they live in Slough?

 

Dave 

[Compound2632]

9 minutes ago, Dave Hunt said:

If they live in Slough?

 

Or Swindon.

 

(For those who recall The Office, a reminder that Ricky Gervais is a native of Reading...)