But a few weeks ago, weren't you predicting Labour wouldn't even get a short-term boost from the energy prize freeze (just checked, your exact words were "yesterday was the day the Tories won the election")? :P

 

Ed didn't go far enough IMHO

 

Even though I am a die hard Tory (UKIP sympathiser) I believe the energy companies (gas/electricity/water) should be renationalised and put under state control with a ban on any price rises more than 1% above the rate of inflation

That was before the recent rises, sure i expected rises but nothing on that scale and the anger about it is justified so of course short term Ed is getting a boost from his plan, i believe it will just be a short term boost though

 

Recent rises? They have been increasing their prices by 8-10% annually for a few years now - some increases were as much as 18% in 2011.

 

I can't stand the bollocks rhetoric from Cameron about ditching your provider and going to another one, only for them to boost up their prices too. They are all 'in it together' and frankly the only way to beat them is to reduce your usage as much as you can and try and get on a fixed tariff.

 

I agree with you Craig that it should all be re-nationalised, I mean the energy sector IS still nationalised, but it is now mostly other countries running things (France, EDF etc.)

Recent rises? They have been increasing their prices by 8-10% annually for a few years now - some increases were as much as 18% in 2011.

 

I can't stand the bollocks rhetoric from Cameron about ditching your provider and going to another one, only for them to boost up their prices too. They are all 'in it together' and frankly the only way to beat them is to reduce your usage as much as you can and try and get on a fixed tariff.

 

I agree with you Craig that it should all be re-nationalised, I mean the energy sector IS still nationalised, but it is now mostly other countries running things (France, EDF etc.)

 

It is a cartel, more than likely they collude with each other to fix prices so Cameron is talking out of his ass tbh

 

I am a free market capitalist and proud of it but i am against abuse of power and energy companies are abusing that as are rail companies to some extent

 

I would put the energy system under state control with the pricing underpinned by law

I can only speak for my area (south coast) but i see far more cars on the road than in recent years, many with new plates, queues in shops seem more than this time last year, I am finding my local Waitrose car park far more full, in this part of the country people seem confident about the recovery

That's because you live in Dorset!

 

Jesus christ, I know I can't exactly talk about feeling the effects but at least I admit it.

Let's put a pound in a jar every time Craig judges what the situation in the whole country is like based off someone he knows.

I hope you've got a very large jar.

rich parts of "holiday-home" Bournemouth & Poole are hardly typical of the rest of the country, any more than London is. I also live there and you wont see many new cars in Townsend, Kinson or Turlin Moor, nor anyone doing average jobs able to afford a house or flat in the area now (bar those given away virtually free under Right To Buy). For example, say...people like me!

 

 

All these rising house prices headlines are being driven by badly-analysed data shot out by the lenders and A.N.Others. The only one that counts is the Land Registry actual sales analysis (its the most complete and comprehensive survey of actual national sales prices) and they have announced that average prices aren't anywhere close to recovering to the 2007 peak, nationally, and that in some parts of the UK they are still declining. Take London out of the equation and it's even worse.

rich parts of "holiday-home" Bournemouth & Poole are hardly typical of the rest of the country, any more than London is. I also live there and you wont see many new cars in Townsend, Kinson or Turlin Moor, nor anyone doing average jobs able to afford a house or flat in the area now (bar those given away virtually free under Right To Buy). For example, say...people like me!

All these rising house prices headlines are being driven by badly-analysed data shot out by the lenders and A.N.Others. The only one that counts is the Land Registry actual sales analysis (its the most complete and comprehensive survey of actual national sales prices) and they have announced that average prices aren't anywhere close to recovering to the 2007 peak, nationally, and that in some parts of the UK they are still declining. Take London out of the equation and it's even worse.

Indeed. Besides, how do rising house prices help the potential first time buyer? That's why every house price boom has proved to be unsustainable. Prices reach the point where almost nobody can get on the bottom rung of the ladder so they have to fall, usually dramatically. Of course in Craig-world that doesn't matter as long as it doesn't happen this side of the election. It's perfectly OK in his eyes for Osborne to gamble billions of pounds of tax revenue if it might bring about a Tory victory. The longer term effect both for the public finances and the livelihoods of people who end up in negative equity are irrelevant to him.

rich parts of "holiday-home" Bournemouth & Poole are hardly typical of the rest of the country, any more than London is. I also live there and you wont see many new cars in Townsend, Kinson or Turlin Moor, nor anyone doing average jobs able to afford a house or flat in the area now (bar those given away virtually free under Right To Buy). For example, say...people like me!

All these rising house prices headlines are being driven by badly-analysed data shot out by the lenders and A.N.Others. The only one that counts is the Land Registry actual sales analysis (its the most complete and comprehensive survey of actual national sales prices) and they have announced that average prices aren't anywhere close to recovering to the 2007 peak, nationally, and that in some parts of the UK they are still declining. Take London out of the equation and it's even worse.

 

I don't live in either of those places I live in Christchurch which while relatively prosperous is certainly no Sandbanks

Indeed. Besides, how do rising house prices help the potential first time buyer? That's why every house price boom has proved to be unsustainable. Prices reach the point where almost nobody can get on the bottom rung of the ladder so they have to fall, usually dramatically. Of course in Craig-world that doesn't matter as long as it doesn't happen this side of the election. It's perfectly OK in his eyes for Osborne to gamble billions of pounds of tax revenue if it might bring about a Tory victory. The longer term effect both for the public finances and the livelihoods of people who end up in negative equity are irrelevant to him.

 

They can get on the housing ladder with rising house prices

 

It means that they have to borrow more but more first time buyers are getting on the property ladder, 40% up on last year am pretty sure I read so people are getting on the housing ladder

 

 

I don't live in either of those places I live in Christchurch which while relatively prosperous is certainly no Sandbanks

So when you said you lived within three miles of Sandbanks, that was another lie.

They can get on the housing ladder with rising house prices

 

It means that they have to borrow more but more first time buyers are getting on the property ladder, 40% up on last year am pretty sure I read so people are getting on the housing ladder

Dear god you can be really dense. Would-be first-time buyers are already struggling to buy their first home. Rising prices will make it even more difficult. Which bit of that do you find so hard to understand?

 

When I bought my first flat interest rates were a lot higher but then so was inflation. I knew that, even if I struggled to make the mortgage payments in the first year or so, my pay would increase sufficiently to make that a short term problem. One of the downsides of low inflation, even if real term pay is increasing which it isn't, is that that is no longer the case for today's first-time buyers.

So when you said you lived within three miles of Sandbanks, that was another lie.

 

Technically, my mother lives within 3 miles and I do stay there occasionally so I do live there sometimes, maybe 20 nights a year

 

I know the Sandbanks area well though

Dear god you can be really dense. Would-be first-time buyers are already struggling to buy their first home. Rising prices will make it even more difficult. Which bit of that do you find so hard to understand?

 

When I bought my first flat interest rates were a lot higher but then so was inflation. I knew that, even if I struggled to make the mortgage payments in the first year or so, my pay would increase sufficiently to make that a short term problem. One of the downsides of low inflation, even if real term pay is increasing which it isn't, is that that is no longer the case for today's first-time buyers.

 

The number of first time buyers is rocketing, every day the papers are full of mentions that mortgage approvals and property purchases of first time buyers are soaring so they are not being deterred by rising prices, more scrambling to get on the gravy train

The number of first time buyers is rocketing, every day the papers are full of mentions that mortgage approvals and property purchases of first time buyers are soaring so they are not being deterred by rising prices, more scrambling to get on the gravy train

There are a lot of people taking advantage of Osborne's hare-brained scheme and desperately getting on to the housing ladder before the market leaves them behind again. This is the most irresponsible scheme by any chancellor I can remember.

Technically, my mother lives within 3 miles and I do stay there occasionally so I do live there sometimes, maybe 20 nights a year

 

I know the Sandbanks area well though

Oh right, that means that I now live in East Grinstead.

There are a lot of people taking advantage of Osborne's hare-brained scheme and desperately getting on to the housing ladder before the market leaves them behind again. This is the most irresponsible scheme by any chancellor I can remember.

 

I don't see what is wrong in people bettering themselves

 

What is better? owning a property or handing over hundreds each month to some landlord? its a no brainer

 

Without this scheme many people would be renting for years to come

I don't see what is wrong in people bettering themselves

 

What is better? owning a property or handing over hundreds each month to some landlord? its a no brainer

 

Without this scheme many people would be renting for years to come

Are you really that thick? I'll try once more before I lose the will to live and I'll try to make it as simple as possible.

 

Every house price boom has been followed by a slump. That means that many people are left with a mortgage bigger than the value of their house. They may find themselves unable to keep up with their mortgage payments (for the reasons I mentioned earlier) but knowing that selling their home will still leave them with a massive debt. Osborne's madcap scheme will inevitably lead to more people facing this crisis. Good luck in explaining to them how it was all worthwhile.

I don't see what is wrong in people bettering themselves

 

What is better? owning a property or handing over hundreds each month to some landlord? its a no brainer

 

Without this scheme many people would be renting for years to come

...and handing over hundreds in mortgage repayments.

 

Oh right, that means that I now live in East Grinstead.

I'm so sorry.

Are you really that thick? I'll try once more before I lose the will to live and I'll try to make it as simple as possible.

 

Every house price boom has been followed by a slump. That means that many people are left with a mortgage bigger than the value of their house. They may find themselves unable to keep up with their mortgage payments (for the reasons I mentioned earlier) but knowing that selling their home will still leave them with a massive debt. Osborne's madcap scheme will inevitably lead to more people facing this crisis. Good luck in explaining to them how it was all worthwhile.

 

By a temporary slump, the housing market is cyclical yes but as an investment over 30-40-50 years it is a licence to print money, buying a house is a long term investment

 

People out to make a quick killing might get their fingers burnt but shit happens, long term they will be quids in if they are patient, by long term i mean decades

Another one for Tyron's £1 pot but my aunt bought a house in Hertfordshire in the mid 1970's, by her estimation and recent sales in her street the value of her property has gone up x17 in the time she has owned it, 1700% in 39 or something years

 

Point me to where else she could have got that sort of return for her investment