Delicatedave

Your view is goes around in circles, at one end you say people are selfish & greedy and then you link this with entitlement and should earning a living. That makes no sense and it seems to put the blame of problem in a nation on to individuals that really have little control. You can bet if we had 100% employment the problems would still be there because it's the politicians that have no answers not the people. At the basic level we live in a community because that's what's best all all - the healthy, the skilled, the unhealthy & the unable to work. We are not employed and not born to work for a living. If you want a true fair balanced community you have to accept some people can't cope with life and others are much better make our lives better with things like art, music & alike. It's up to the community to support these people. Greed & selfishness is not providing the basic safety net, forcing people into things they don't want and decisions they don't want to make. It's not surprising some choose the easy option of not working or crime. They don't get born that way, their path is blocked, their life chooses are limited as those of their parents was and perhaps the parents before them. it's up to government to make sure "community" works because if they don't it breaks down into a free for all and that's exactly what we are seeing now. And let's not forget this is not about one generation it's about history, each generation puts something in and their family has a right to draw from what they put in. After all rich people understood that centures ago that's why we still give peerages so son's can take their father's place in Lords.

The has been no investment, till Thatcher our income was 37% from state owned industry it's now less than 10% Have we replaced that 17%? no we've made the problem worse by reducing the tax and handing large tax cuts in CGT and yes someone is going to say "yea but we are getting more tax now so that's worked" no we are not because those figures are never adjusted for inflation or population expansion this is a con the likes of the BBC have failed to point out. It's simple maths, we as a nation are not looking after our own people. A nation is it's people is it not. Those as old as me (60) were you not promised a better life, less working hours, more leisure time, in your youth. Why are working harder, why are we working longer into old age? and why are basic needs like food, heating and a place to live so extensive & hard to get today? When are we going to wake up or is it a fact that just enough of us are doing ok not to want change?

Yes we have had a lot of patriotic nationalist stuff but when was the last time a British government invested in Britain?

I think you actually just agreed. Politicians are there to find the answer and implement it. The problem is they too often do it in a idealogical way not the best way. I'll give you a typical example: The was a time when the UK led the world in broadband communications. British Telecom had prepared the path forward for all homes in the UK including the building of 2 factories to manufacture the the parts needed. Thatcher in her wisdom decided she wanted to open up that market to private enterprise and stopped it dead in it's tracks. The factories were sold off and US companies allowed to move in. To this day we still suffer as a country because of that decision not only in the lack of broadband to business but also now having to have chinise technology for security systems. All that would have been British & we would have been selling it world wide like they are.

At the end of the day its not our job to see these things and see the are solutions to them or see mistakes have been made. It's down to those who go into politics to see the mistake & provide solutions to all these problems. To make our life easier, healthier and more rewarding. All I see is politicians getting much better at lying, getting much richer for being politicians and us being less caring because we are too busy doing for ourselves what those politicians should be doing. Oh yes we'll do a bit for charity here and there and that makes us feel good but the basic fabric of what society is is being stripped away till we are all living in boarded up homes speaking to other via the internet and fearing walking out our front door in case we meet someone. It took 2 world wars to wake people up last time, let's hope it doesn't come to that again.

Care in the community act was introduced in 1990. At that time I had a brother who worked at All Saints mental home, within a week their patents were affecting the traffic on the main road because they were just wondering out of the hostels & private care home which were old people's home in effect. A number of these people ended up in prison for a few years then let out for the process to start again.

https://www.insidehousing.co.uk/news/news/only-4-of-homes-funded-through-affordable-homes-programme-were-for-social-rent-65022

https://www.ons.gov.uk/economy/regionalaccounts/grossdisposablehouseholdincome/adhocs/005568meanrenttomeanincomeratiopercentagelondon2001to2014

Were does this mental health come from ? stress, pressure, all part of the harse environment created by the Tories & Labour but mostly the tory cuts. How would most people deal with 20% cuts in income and then not a wage rise for 4 years? and told you need to pa extra rent because you have a spare room. People really don't understand the world here now in the UK. You lose your job and don't find another quickly and it quicksand, you could lose everything - people have. Then when you have nothing you are told you have go for a job apointment. You get the job but it's zero hours contract and you don't get enough work. It does your head in. People turn to drink, drugs any thing for a break from the pressure.

5m people in the UK claim submental benefits, 2m of those are in full time work. This means the state is supplementing business, take a high employer like Tesco it mean the tax payer is giving the £250k a week per branch on average to supplement their wage cost. As for rents staying literally the same compared to income, well just in the short time of 2003 to 2014 that ratio went from 22% to 34% that's a squeeze

Honestly when my clothes come out washer after a snip they are not damp enough to hold much water, I mean I could not wring them out and find any water it's that dry and in fact some items feel dry. Perhaps you spin on a lower rate or just you washer is not as good at spinning.

Again that not "folks" waking up one day and deciding they want those things, it's society telling them they need them and in things like clothes making them cheap enough to e seen as a throw away item. Think a bit deeper it's also a consequence of less direct taxation because people are allowed to keep more of their earnings. So if these people don't have to foot the bill themselves for things that we paid for in public services - things like trains, buses, health care even street cleaning - they compared to our generation are much richer.

You may be right but they dry in a few hours and the weight of the waistband pull them enough to mean they don't need ironing ? Anyway, I don't think you understand the drying process, the water doesn't fall off downwards they are not that wet. Doing it the other way would also mean the clips cover the thickist part of the material so that wouldn't dry at all.

I get those hangers with clips and hand all my trousers upside down on the doors, seem to work for me ?

In term of population I think the world has enough room. However problems are exacerbated by the way the wealth is distributed.

This is an age old theory on every new generations by the past one. We were ok because we were smart sort of attitude. In effect children grow up a product of their influences, so if society is telling them they have have things and need things to be like their peers who are we to tell them they are doing wrong. Yes some are idiots and make mistake but in general, the average one of us would make the same decisions as the average on of them.

I don't think that it's a case of the are not enough house or homes. We've just gone the wrong route and connected a home to status and wealth. It's said the are 63% of the UK who own their own home, that leaves a lot renting still but in other countries in Europe the figure would be more like 25%. And even then these stats are not reliable because they depend on mortgages issued to get there. In fact as a country our government is so dishonest & corrupt in it's attitude to what it tells the public it's astounding. Perhaps it's always been that way.

If you go on the almost any town or city high street you'll see a crisis in every other doorway. If you go to a foodbank you'll meet several "crisis" who depend on that foodbank to make ends meet because their rent is over 50% of their income or the are on zero hour contracts and have not had enough work that week to meet their rent and food bill. If you talk to people you'll know about a lot of 30 year old "crisis" who are stuck either renting in shared accommodation of still at home with their parents. That's my definition of housing crisis but as you can see it's only one crisis of many. Wait till this generation get to the point where they need care in their old age. Then you'll find out what happens when on crisis crashes into another. And if that's not enough for you consider also education is in crisis so another wave to hit yet.

Cabinet minister are mainly figureheads to keep the political game going, department more or less run themselves if left alone to do the work. The UK housing problem is down to the state abandoning support for it. So in a way you are right. It was turning into a political scheme under Thatcher and no one since seems to have the will to do what is needed to readjust the balance. That balance being to provide cheap rentable accommodation for the means of providing a stable family, which lead to stable community, which lead to less crime, less wealth problems but less profit. It's hard to see how now it's going to get fixed. To simplify it think of not house but cars - imagine if the cost of cars were so high 70% of people couldn't hope to afford to buy one. But the country need more people to drive so who do you get around that problem? lower the price of cars - those who have bought won't vote for you if you do that. So you end up kicking the can down the road and pretend you are doing something about it by subsidising those who can afford to buy at the current price. But the market is not daft and so the 20% you give to the market they pocket it by inflating the price - because they know the buyer has free money given to them by the government. The only way this will be resolved is by building council houses, which will almost certainly collapse the private rentable market back to where it was in the 1980s but house prices should not be affected too much but will be affected.

I think the sewerage pipe does but to be honest I only know that when our toilet doesn't flush next door have to sort it out and I think the inspection lid may be in their back garden.

I worked ten years for a water company, it really is amazing what they don't know ?

It was split long before we bought it but within the same family. Our solicitor brought up lot of things but not that. Pretty sure access will not be a problem but you never know, I suppose we should look towards getting a quote for out own system anyway. Best to be informed.

Saw a great test on this sort of thing, the chap made a frame like a big picture frame and stuffed it with layers of material. He then just put a canvas on the front, it was far better at stopping noise than the boards they sell. A bit of old carpet would do the same. So perhaps rather than buying expensive board why not carpet the ceiling then use normal plater board ?

I may be wrong but I think if you want sound proofing you ned to consider more than plaster board.

Indeed, the is a fair bit we could complain about, but she's a nice lady and neither of us plan to move again. We love the property and got it for a good price that allowed us to have most of what we had been looking 2 years for. Pretty sure I could convince her to agreeing to any work that needed doing but it's not high on the list. We have a rain water drain that just runs into the front garden and the side of the property flood as the water level rises - now that are important to get fixed soon this isn't ?