The grumpy thread

[Kiltox]

  On 06/03/2018 at 21:27, beko1987 said:

It gave a faint pip whwn I gave it some welly, so it's not the fuse. I've been told to have the cowling off and look at the contacts. Failing that things got scary and I worked out a bodge in my head...

 

The ex-SiC Scenic I had used to have a really weak horn - changing the horn for another off eBay sorted it

[somewhatfoolish]

  On 06/03/2018 at 19:44, dollywobbler said:

I always try to smile. They're improved Aberystwyth no end. Sadly, the locals know when they're off-duty, and soon resort to parking like utter twats.

Canaries are a waste of time unless backed by a hiab wagon that comes along after a while and takes their pride and joy away and ransoms it.

[Parky]

  On 06/03/2018 at 18:35, warren t claim said:

I feel that I'm not doing enough in my life to make the world a better place. I really wish there was something I could do to make a difference.

Tell you what you could do - if one of your fares is a skint senior citizen or a knackered Nurse and the ride wasn't too much, let them have it for free - just ask them to chuck a couple of quid in a charity box when they next pass one.

 

Do one a week or one a month, that might be something you could do?

[Cavcraft]

Is it wrong that you never want to hear another sodding word about the NHS ever again? Yeah they do a grand job and we're very lucky, but try living with someone who works for them

[eddyramrod]

  On 06/03/2018 at 21:40, fordperv said:

Random acts of kindness, even stuff as small as helping someone you see struggling this is what I try to do when im out and about

Yes, me too.  Just Be Nice is a decent motto to live by, even if it seems like nobody notices.  Someone will.

I often take a minute to talk to the traffic wardens when I meet them around our shop, and tell them how I appreciate them trying to keep order in the delivery yard.  Most of them know my van and don't bother it.

When I do my weekly shop, Asda has a trolley on the way out for the local food bank; you just buy something extra and lob it in as you pass.  I always contribute something, it need only cost a quid or so.  Box of cereal, 40 teabags... this week I put in a 3-pack of baked beans.  Even in my financial state I'm not going to miss a quid and it might mean someone eats who couldn't otherwise.

Small kindnesses are surprisingly powerful in terms of improving someone's day.

[beko1987]

  On 06/03/2018 at 21:44, Kiltox said:

The ex-SiC Scenic I had used to have a really weak horn - changing the horn for another off eBay sorted it

No it used to work really well, proper horn like. Now it doesn't, and because I've not used it for ages I don't know when it failed! I've got until January to fix it...

[wuvvum]

  On 06/03/2018 at 20:10, Parky said:

Crazy situation. Both worked, both lost their jobs and couldn't keep up with the rent. The landlord evicted them, the council have no properties and because they have no address they can't get any benefits. What a totally fucked system. Surely something can be done?

It is a shit situation.  And it's going to get worse, as house prices get ever more stupid and the houses that do come up for sale are bought by greedy cunt buy-to-let landlords who have got wealthy through absolutely no merit of their own but purely because they were born at a time which enabled them to get on the property ladder cheaply and then rake in vast profits / capital gains through doing nothing more than sitting on their arses. 

 

There is no council housing because it was all sold off at tuppence ha'penny under Right to Buy schemes, which wouldn't be a bad thing in themselves if the money (such as it was) had been used to replace the social housing stock.  But of course it wasn't.  Even now that there are supposedly rules on what percentage of any new development is supposed to be "affordable" housing, the greedy cunt developers are holding councils to ransom by claiming that they can't afford to include affordable housing, and if the council insist they just say "well we won't build the development then".  As if they weren't making enough fucking money selling their poorly built, pokey little shitbox houses for idiotically inflated prices.

 

Add to that the fact that we have the worst tenant rights of any country in Europe, and greedy cunt letting agents charging extortionate fees and imposing stupid criteria on any prospective tenants, and you have the perfect storm for anyone under the age of about 35, at least in the southern half of the UK - especially those in low-level jobs which are increasingly being replaced by computers.  Every time I read an article about a seemingly normal person who has been made homeless through no fault of their own, I think "there but for the grace of God..." (although I do at least have a van to sleep in if worst comes to worst).  And it's not going to get better under this government, as greedy cunt BTL landlords, greedy cunt developers and greedy cunt letting agents mostly vote Tory.  It will get better eventually - there will come a point when the entire system is completely unsustainable and collapses on itself - but I wonder how many more lives will be destroyed before that happens?

[sierraman]

These developers make me laugh with their "affordable homes" invariably priced at well above the going rate. Usually on some really substandard land, crammed together on the site of something like a former chemicals factory.

 

Its a fact though these days, if its a below average wage you are getting then you need to move north. Easier said than done.

[Tadhg Tiogar]

  On 06/03/2018 at 23:39, sierraman said:

These developers make me laugh with their "affordable homes" invariably priced at well above the going rate. Usually on some really substandard land, crammed together on the site of something like a former chemicals factory....

 

...increasingly sold to foreign investors, hiding behind a company structure. Well, the Chinese need a bolthole for their money (and their families, eventually), and the Malaysians just need somewhere to park their cash so that the Malaysian Government can't nick it for use in their own dodgy schemes.

[Noel Tidybeard]

  On 05/03/2018 at 10:22, warren t claim said:

No harm came to any individual.

 

but what about the spade? was it traumatised in any way?

[Kiltox]

Greedy cunt BTL landlord here - Scotland is leading the way in improving tenant rights (have a look at the Scottish Residential Tenancy which is now mandatory along with compulsory landlord registration in all areas) and abolished agency fees in 2012

 

England has a way to go - I believe the fees at least are due to be abolished but I will believe it when I see it

 

On the topic of being evicted for non payment of rent - the last time I checked you would have your house repossessed for non payment of mortgage too - if that’s changed please do let me know

[BavarianRetro]

Just try legally evicting anyone who does not want to leave and is getting advice on how to prolong their stay. You'd be cheaper and better off just signing the title deeds over to them.

[Cavcraft]

Absolutely and totally smack on, Wuvvum. Just add those 'affordable home ownership' things are bollocks, as you don't actually own the place (yeah, I know, mortgages) but just a percentage of it and have a mortgage, rent on the remainder and often 'service' charges, with a hopeless shot at buying another 25% or whatever later on. 

 

For every new estate that goes up there should be something like one in forty houses sold at actual build costs to first time buyers with a mortgage, with riders that they can't sell for five years or something and no buy to rent.

[RoadworkUK]

The housebuilding near me is getting increasingly frustrating. Semi-rural village location but with decent road and rail links, and every available parcel of disposable farmland is being built on. And what are they building? "Executive" homes.

 

The corner-plot near me is currently having four houses built on it, and by the looks of the plans we're talking about detatched houses that are little bigger than an average three-bedroom semi, but stuffed with four bedrooms and flogged for £400k plus. These really, really aren't the houses that are needed here, but they'll sell like hotcakes to some ex-London commuter. I suspect it's that market that's driving things here.

 

We're dead lucky to have pounced on our place when we did. It's a typical '90s three-bed semi that previous inhabitants had treated woefully - but it was very keenly priced with scope for considerable improvement, which we've been making in our own time. Today, I'm pretty sure it would have been swept up by a developer who would have 'transformed it' with 'high end appliances' and a 'first class finish', and slapped another eighty grand on the asking price after twenty grand's worth of work.

 

I really, really hate property developers.

[Timewaster]

There is an estate going up at the end of our garden.

3,4 and 5 bed houses and some "affordable" homes.

 

2 bed flat. £229000

 

AFFORDABLE?!

[Jerzy Woking]

I was part of a self build scheme back in 1988. Council sold 2 acres af land on to 35 of us build 35 houses (ranging from two bedroom semis to 4 bedroom detached) between us. Land was the biggest expense, but I got a well made house (all brick and block construction), decent garden, garage and hardstanding for probably 60% of the cost of an equivalent house in the area. I did have to work two evenings a week and every weekend for 18 months on site.

 

Have self build schemes died a death, as not seen one around here for years, and they were popular?

[BorniteIdentity]

Land Baron BorniteIdentity checking in here.

 

There are many, many of us landlords who would dearly love to to let our properties LONG term to the same tenant.  It is in nobody's interest to have lots of short term tenants  - ONE single month of rental gap eliminates any kind of surplus for the year.  We haven't increased the rent on our tenant in 5 years - she pays £585 a month for a beautiful 19th century cottage which is 15 miles from Cambridge.  Market value is now probably £850.

 

There's one thing that never, ever gets mentioned when this argument comes up - and I reckon it's because nobody really knows this.

 

It's an explicit clause in our mortgage agreement that no assured shorthold tenancy agreement may last more than 12 months.  I simply can't do it.  So all I can do is offer assurances to our tenant that the deal is quite simple (Pay rent - look after house - make sure you make it YOUR home) and we've no desire to change it.

 

I too long for a simpler and more sustainable solution.  Never forget that the majority of landlords have just one property they let out, and a lot of us are accidental landlords, and most of us have children who are about to enter this 'shit storm' themselves.

[wuvvum]

I fully agree that it's the entire system that is fucked up, and I'm in no way saying that BTL landlords are the sole cause of all the problems, or that all landlords are cunts - I will have been in my house ten years at the end of this month, I rent directly from the landlady and she's put the rent up once in ten years - she pretty much leaves me alone and last time I bumped into her (just before Christmas) we had a chat about this and that but she never even mentioned the house.

 

I just think that this entire mentality of viewing houses primarily as a commodity to make money on, rather than as an essential part of human existence, is very dangerous, and is leading to a situation where having a roof over your head is regarded as a privilege rather than a fundamental human right.

[Kiltox]

Urgh the man flu is getting worse. Probably karma for all the greedy-cunt-ness

 

Land Baron Identity is definitely a more noble man than me - I wouldn’t be able to cope with having a mortgage hanging over me with so little wiggle room for missed payments etc (even if I could cover them elsewhere)

[Parky]

I have no objection to BTL, indeed at one point I nearly bought a flat near my house thinking about it as a long term investment for the kids. Wished I had as it would have been a bloody good one but I always had the right ideas when I had no money and I wasn't prepared to risk the main family residence at that time in my life.

 

All new builds are the same. Developers seem to have two sets of plans and estates consist of "100 type ones over there, 200 type 2's over there. Jubbly". There is no imagination with any of it and they still Labour under stupid assumptions. Modern garages that don't fit modern cars, room for one car where families have two or more, that sort of thing.

 

Why aren't we looking at wooden properties? They work fine in Scandinavia and NZ with similar weather. Provide lots more scope for design and modification. Solar panels as part of the build? Underground heating? Make some attractive homes with eco credentials maybe. Plus wooden homes provided as kits can be knocked together much faster than building a brick place

 

Wonder how many new builds are incorporating charging points for electric vehicles which we will all have to have in 25 years? I would imagine the answer to that is none.

[Kiltox]

New build estate parking is awful (I’m currently looking to buy somewhere to live rather than handing over money every month to my greedy cunt BTL landlord)

 

I think it’s driven by legislation though.

[BorniteIdentity]

Unfortunately, what's needed is a root and branch rewrite of the rules - and I can categorically say you will never, ever see it.  Ever.  Here's why.  House prices are a British Obsession, and no political party will ever stand up and say "Here is how we're going to lower house prices" because it'd be a suicide mission.  63% of the electorate are owner/occupiers and - having bust their bollocks to get on the ladder - they're not going to vote to be put in negative equity.  No matter WHAT their politics.

 

So the only option is not only to build more, but to build even more than building more.  But here comes the next question.  If you let people 'staircase' up to buying the house they call home - is it any different to the "right to buy" scheme that, arguably, caused a lot of this mess?  If you don't let people own the house they call home, what happens to their children after death etc?

 

I'm afraid I'm out of my depth.  There were flaws in the old 'council' system, and there are flaws in the 'HA' system.  I don't have the personal experience of it, so it's not really fair to comment further.  

[tooSavvy]

Sierraman. ".Its a fact though these days, if its a below average wage you are getting then you need to move north. Easier said than done."

 

Middlesbrough's council demolished a whole 'proper sized semi/gardens' housing estate because they couldn't get enough folks into the houses. You can claim Sink Estate with druggies & more kids than teeth but - still - couldn't find sufficient people to take a key.

 

Wasn't there an uproar when a London borough 'block contracted' empty houses in Burnley (or the like..) to cover their housing obligation??

 

"I'm not moving away frumm me fahmillee" .......

 

 

TS

[eddyramrod]

1: I've said many times that I love driving Huggy  and can't do so without smiling.

Well this has happened today, because of this:

2: My boss has been a total arse today.  The moment he arrived (a good half-hour or more after I did) he had a go at how I parked.  I will admit it was untidy and possibly a bit selfish, but he went as far as using the word "spiteful."  Fuck, what?????  He wouldn't retract it either.  Then when I brought the van back and accidentally bumped it against the bakery wall he accused me of not looking after it.  Well fuck that, he's never had anyone look after a van like I do!

 

I've been labouring under a stress-induced headache for at least two weeks.  I went to the doc's the other day and got some more pills but they aren't helping a lot.

 

Week and a half to go to my next week off.  Will I make it?  At the moment I have no idea.

[Kiltox]

If I ever manage to become properly rich (unlikely) I’ve always said I’ll try to take control of a massive derelict scheme somewhere, some kind of real shit estate that is empty because it wasn’t fit to live in, from a council or similar and turn it into properly social / affordable housing

 

Not to make profit or to milk subsidies but to actually improve an area. I imagine it would be extremely difficult and cost a bloody fortune.

[Cavcraft]

  On 07/03/2018 at 09:40, Kiltox said:

If I ever manage to become properly rich (unlikely) I’ve always said I’ll try to take control of a massive derelict scheme somewhere, some kind of real shit estate that is empty because it wasn’t fit to live in, from a council or similar and turn it into properly social / affordable housing

 

Not to make profit or to milk subsidies but to actually improve an area. I imagine it would be extremely difficult and cost a bloody fortune.

 

With enough good intentions, a lot of trust (that'd be the big key) and managed properly (very time consuming) it'd work. It would be expensive but if you could do it at all 'at cost' or plough any small profits back into another scheme, it'd be great.

Then you're hardest job would be fending off offers from the unscrupulous bastard companies who'd want to buy it all off you and reverse all your hard work.

[tooSavvy]

Near Pelton, years ago, a developer took over such a 'situation' [probably to sweetheart council land for prime building, likely].

 

They decimated the site = knocked down every second row of houses/linking roads/parking provision upped/re-furbbed a block of one bed flats.

 

I'm not sure if it was with a housing assc or just a straight 'cheap-to-buy' offer.

 

Seems they went like hot cakes... Unsurprisingly

 

TS

[Talbot]

The massive issues with building houses, the quality of them, whether they are "affordable" or not and so on is also partly to do with the massive yawning chasm between central government policy and local government policy.

 

Case in point: An estate has been built in the next field to us. Various companies had been applying for planning permission to build on that field since the 1960's, but it has always been turned down. With good reason too.. it's in the wrong place, access is poor, and the infrastructure is all wrong.

 

Because of this, the council have never really looked at what has been proposed. They have just dismissed it immediately. The most recent application was a particularly bad one. Affordable housing all squashed in sideways, seperate access roads for the council let homes to the posh ones, too-high-density housing, etc.etc. Now, had the council been minded to approve *any* sort of building on that field, they would have worked with the developer, changed the layout, organised the access, put various limits/guides etc. on the developer, and ensured that it was what was needed.

 

Instead, the developer appealed to central government. The planning officer listened to everyone's concerns, complaints and reasons why it should not go ahead, and is on record as having said "I agree with all of your points, but we need housing, so I am going to approve it". What he didn't do, was then instruct the local council to go through the plans and amend/modify anything that they would normally do before approving plans.

 

So what was build is a bloody disaster. It has all the social housing crammed together on one side of the site, with access through the existing (my) estate, and a seperate access road from the main road for all the privately bought homes. The density of housing is staggeringly high, and none of the plans for construction access that should have been made were made, so all the lorries coming to deliver stuff or remove spoil came through a single-track housing estate road. Utterly stupid.

 

.. and there's another estate about to be built the other side of us. This house was bought as a fixer-upper. I need to get it fixed-up and then get us outta here!

[Snipes]

The 21st Century thread is making me grumpy. Bunch of moaning miserable twats.

[wuvvum]

  On 07/03/2018 at 08:50, BorniteIdentity said:

Unfortunately, what's needed is a root and branch rewrite of the rules - and I can categorically say you will never, ever see it.  Ever.  Here's why.  House prices are a British Obsession, and no political party will ever stand up and say "Here is how we're going to lower house prices" because it'd be a suicide mission.  63% of the electorate are owner/occupiers and - having bust their bollocks to get on the ladder - they're not going to vote to be put in negative equity.  No matter WHAT their politics.

I completely agree - there is never going to be any deliberate action taken to actively reduce house prices.  That is something that will eventually happen on its own - although it could be decades down the line yet.

 

What would be good though is action to stop prices continuing to climb - this would avoid the whole "property is an easy way to make money" thing which is contributing massively to the whole sorry situation, whilst avoiding the negative equity issues which followed the last price crash in the '90s and which would affect "normal" homeowners more (in real terms) than it affects anyone else.