I want my house

I dont get involved in large developments FIN.  Not many people do, its a very specialised highly financed operation.  Its good that you are able to draw on such technical knowledge through your own experience FIN.  And there was i thinking you just google this stuff up

I do get involved in project management though.  The part of 106 that involves me is usually the stuff that it was designed to help.  The local developments being sensitive to re-generation, the affordable housing in each development so local people can afford the housing and it dosnt make them homeless in their own locality.

That kind of usefull stuff.......

It's a very specialised highly financed operation, that I will not argue with
Don't know about good, certainly entertaining and varied.
Believe it, if I comment on anything, it is from first hand experience and not what others say.

A Section 106 that was designed to help is fine, but when the LA use it as a ransom for what they should have taken on board themselves, prior to a new development, is quite naughty.

Affordable housing is needed, but like any other developer and funder, am certainly not happy about having to include in developments, which eat into the bottom line.

Hi FIN

Since 1986 when Maggie T decided to sell off housing stock on the RTB legislation, and the withdrawal of any funding to replenish the stock, its been very difficult to see where the housing for the rental sector was going to come from.  The sustainable communities and the arms length management and LSVT's have put some teeth into the possibility of new builds for the social rental market.

You will no doubt be aware that Local Authorities have not been allowed to borrow money on the open market, thats a privilege kept for the the private industry.  The private housing market has kept growing in price while the social rented sector is confined to its little sink estates that newspapers blame for al the evils of the country.......drugs, terrorism, knives, guns.....you name it, they get kicked for it.

The HMR or housing market renewal programme is trying and i have to say succeeding in building communities and forming partnerships through LA strategic housing, and looking to replenish the badly needed housing for rent in the country.

Two points to make here.........if the housing market is left to the 'bottom line' economics and the private bulding companies and its shareholders, there are huge problems..........

Also if the local authorities dont enforce an affordable housing strategy and local people are priced out of their own locality at the expense of things like second holiday homes and the like.................then they simply arnt doing their job for their citizens.

Im surprised you dont hold a more balanced view FIN really.  Even the most hardened capitalists in British Housing sector have broad agreement in these strategies and form partnerships with all local authorities these days.

Now then....back to Spanish housing strategy..................how far do you think they are behind the strategy we have just been debating...........................i think archaic is a pretty good choice of word!!!

Best wishes

Brian

A big plus for Spain is the fact that in many instances, they retain the family culture, whereby, childred when growing up, don't automatically assume it is their right to own a property and that a house is a home and not a way of earning a quick buck. Hence the house becomes a family home and is extended to accommodatate the growing family. In UK, majority of late teens, early twenties just have it in mind to hitch up with a partner and get a pad of their own. Result, a huge demand for accommodation. Then we have the hype about everyone needs to get onto the property ladder.
Giving age away, but time was that people rented accommodation or lived with parents, whilst saving.
When a property is secured, it was then furnished with hand-me-downs and second hand.
The motor, well, people learned how to maintain themselves (which was needed), as old bangers.
Nowadays, borrow, borrow and borrow more and don't think of the future.
Social housing, yes it is needed, for the needy and not the greedy, sorry, but not on my developments though. Resi is a no, no, no.

Yes i agree with you FIN.

The trouble with Brian with all his years of experience is that he does not so much as twist the facts, he just leaves things OUT. For example: Yes Brian we all know the difference between being homeless unintentionally and making yourself homeless intentionally! So those that make themselves homeless intentionally will not be re: housed. Correct, but actually WRONG. What you fail to mention is what most of us know is that people that want to be housed in a council house DONT very often tell the truth and in actual fact LIE.

A few years ago we had a young man who came to our B and B and on his first day said his family had kicked him out so that he could get a council property of his own. Obviously his parents lied, they had not kicked him out, but because he was evicted from his accommodation, albeit his parents home, he was deemed homeless and by the end of the week he was re: housed by the COUNCIL and left us. FACT. He was over 25 years of age. Most councils dont consider anyone under 25 as homeless, as they are able to live with their PARENTS. KNOW THE SYSTEM AND HOW TO WORK IT.  Hope thats a bit clearer.................................Brian.

Of course being in the same line of business you will be well aware of all these things, like SOME not all, single girls becoming pregnant so as to get their own accommodation, you just leave them OUT and dont bother to mention them, so as to try and score a few browny points.

Notice Brian that i said SOME girls not all, for fear that like in your previous posting to me you stated that it was absurd that i should suggest that ALL terrorists live in council houses. In fact if you look back i said, and i quote:  and also MANY of them living in council houses and drawing benefits, NOT ALL Brian, NOT ALL. So please get your facts right when making a derrogatory statement.

                               Bob.

Is this debate getting silly ? tar and brush come to mind !

Hi Julie.

Yes i could have said the same thing about many of your posts regarding SARCO and Tonymal.

At least i am just speaking my mind with my opinion and not being downright rude and vindictive, unlike some other posts.

                        Bob.

Bob Wrong side and bed come to mind  ! chiiiiiiiiiiill ! You are grumpy today .There have  been some sweeping statements and un PC comments flying around .We can not always blame the actions of the few dishonest for the ills of a whole country .Getting pregnant to be rehoused in a smelly ,damp council flat in a crime ridden  , junky infested  council estate ! does anyone really do that  ?

Julie.

No not really grumpy, its just that now and again one has to stand their corner. I know what you are saying but unfortunately sometimes in life the few can become the MANY the only point that i was trying to make is that whether it be fraud, benefit cheating, or whatever, although it is not the majority of people doing these things it also certainly is not just the very few, as Brian SEEMS to be making out, it really does go a bit deeper than that.

As for council estates, i dont think, no sorry, i know , that they are not all like you mentioned, damp and crime ridden etc. There are Julie some that are not too bad at all and as an ex. milkman at one stage a long time ago, i delivered to some quite reasonable ones. Even on the so called bad ones there were a lot of ordinary nice people that because of their personal circumstances they had no real control over where they lived. Who knows why sometimes people buck the system to gain something that you and i perhaps would not look at twice. As the saying goes:  There's nowt so strange as people.

Unfortunately the modern western world in many ways has been in a downward spiral for many years now and shows little sign at the moment of reversing that trend. Spain which in many ways seems to be a bit behind the times and a bit sort of quaint [i mean that in the nicest possible way for any spaniards out there] is probably why i like the place so much. It has not been so completely tarnished like many other countries.

Viva Espania. May you not allow yourself to fall into the trap that so many of the so called BIG nations have, with a downward spiralling effect.

And to you Julie i promise i will get into bed on the right side tonight and out the same side tomorrow. Ha. Ha.

                                  Best wishes and a merry christmas.   Bob.

Hi FIN

As Gandy himself said...theres always been enough money to go round but never been enough greed..........you keep your bottom line safe at all costs............it sadly makes regulation more needed........Thanks for the lesson in Spanish culture FIN.

By the way.....do you know where council houses started life?.....during edwardian Britain at the time of the first world war, a guy called Lloyd George gave a speech called the 'homes for hero's' where he said he wanted the country to build homes fit for heroes, with bathrooms and sanitation.....at affordable rents..........on a national scale.  This was needed mainly because the people were living in slums.  A by product was  the disease was spreading to the posh people in the urban victorian housing.....these people were scared of the theives and vagabonds.....so they built them in the sub-urban......to help the people who thought they were all bad elements ha....times change eh.....we have a very rich culture also

Bob................If you know the system you probably know that single young men dont come up on the homeless radar at all....they have no standing for housing other than private....i know its sexist isnt it.......still were only men eh...Young girls used to get points for different things......baby was definately one of them.  Young men had to go into hostels and only then were taken from 16 to 25 years old.  Please Bob if you want to tell me off try and get the facts straight.

The system has moved on into streams now Bob.............economic streams............local streams......the system is changed my friend.

People are recognised in the fact they are going to move around in their lives, may get a job in another place and want to move.....yes even to places where they need passports, like Lancashire, poor beggers  lol     Also houses for people who are classed as key workers, nurses, police, reccomendations from chamber of commerce.......yes the world is changing from the old B and B for people who lie.................then again...people do lie Bob....surprising isnt it...ha.............the homeless section interviewers at the LA are fairly cute at spotting liars...the liars are fairly cute at getting round the interviews...life is a game eh.

Let me know if im leaving owt out here...................let me think...the downward spiral.......well i think that houses with full central heating, double glazing, upgraded elements...................more people than ever owning their own transport......better access to education, safer sanitation, better health measures, better diet...........whats the downward spiral? (what have the romans ever done for us?)

Is it old hookhand thats bothering you again Bob...............you may not believe this but over the years i have spent more time on council estates around ths region than all the people on here put together.........i have seen a very small percentage of drug problems and seen some system abuse and lying.  Also met the most genuine people in the world.

Strange thing is i have never ever met a terrorist or had information of one anywhere in the vicinity.

Hi JA.....well said girl.....

Brian.

As far as i am concerned the housing debate is dead. As J.A. said: Its getting silly.

The downward spiral! You, as in your last post and like many people are talking about materialistic things, i was thinking more of the quality of LIFE. A life FAIRLY free from hate, wars, killing, terrorism, etc.  where people can leave their back door open without fear of being robbed or attacked. Where a stranger would rush to help another stranger who was in need. Being neighbourly, as in the old days. Going back to the way things were meant to be, not the direction that these things in the world as a whole are moving away from, with certain countries like Spain at the moment which are not as badly affected. Long may that be the case, as we live here now.

So, go on Brian since you know it all,  pull that to pieces and tell us all that it is a really wonderful world, with our central heating, double glazing etc. and if things continue in a downward spiral the way that they are heading, it will be Shangri-La  in another 50 years time.

                    Merry Christmas all.    Bob.

Hi Bob

we regularly forget to lock our doors at home, my lad...i say lad, he is 22, came home last Saturday and forgot to lock the front door.........Guess what, we survived    phew.  I leave all kinds of stuff out on a night...........by accident of course, but it has never (touch wood) been stolen.

I am providing help to people on a daily basis, who require equipment and adaptations in their home., they can be frail, elderly, disabled........all sorts of reasons..........i contributed work wise to the roll out of a scheme around 10 weeks ago that provides access to local services for deaf mute individuals and arranged local signers to be available on an emergency basis, in leaseholder properties.

New heating systems are provided as part of a decent homes initiative now, with better insulation, better windows, better heat retention.  It was only 1998 when i was involved in studies about how many elderly people in bungalows in a given region were dying from November to March, compared with April to October.................dont knock the replacement windows and doors etc. Bob.

The majority of people who actually put time and effort into these schemes are from council estates, which is strange i often think, considering they have such a bad press.

Now then, heres a fact you may like.............its not indicative of a problem its just that this is a one off experience of mine.

We have never been broken into at any of our houses during my life........i have only ever had a set of golf clubs pinched from a car.  That was in the south of england.......but im not bitter...ha

However on a holiday in Lanzarote, in 2002, we were burgled and had all our money, jewellery, wedding rings, grandmas engagement ring, and other personal possessions nicked (they left us our passports so we could get home though).  Now i dont hold this up as being a problem thats worse in Spain as it is in UK............but look at crime in the EU and the 'terrosist, events............look at Greece this last few days for example.  Sorry but if anyone has a pop at the UK unfairly..........i will have a pop back, its just the way i am.

Since i finished writing this i remembered some other events, thought i would pop these in as well......we went to the theme park in in Spain, portaventura in 2003 and Lesley had her purse pinched with all her cards and some of our holiday money in there....................A lady at work called Carole came back from Barcelona and had been mugged on Las Ramblas, she clung onto her bag and was dragged along, kicke, punched and ended up with a broke arm for her trouble.........Sorry bob i had forgotten these.

Friend of mine Paul went to Rome to watch a football match and was beaten up and stabbed......around 2001 from memory.  Spanish sporting authorities are being fined regularly these days for racism, the spokespersons for this from Spain seem to think there are no problems or its low level.  These are happening against high profile England footballers, Lewis Hamilton, and in most matches of european champions league level.

These people i mention have similar stories to me Bob......they are not trouble makers and they have not experienced things like this in their own country before..............any comments on these things Bob....where exactly is this spiral?  Is it in the Sun newspaper maybe?

Brian

Sorry to sound rude Brian, but never mind Tonymal, i think it is you that needs to see a shrink.

You dont know when to stop do you.

Boys!  Boys!  Where's your Christmas spirit?    Or have you already opened your bottles of Christmas spirit......?

About to go to our Spanish classes, where we hope our teacher Maria Luisa will be feeling festive and let us go home early!  Try not to fight while we are away....

Sue

Thats ok Bob

If you keep asking me stuff i will keep responding..................

just to recap........you said the benefits system, the housing system, and the single young mothers in the UK were poor.  You mentioned the council housing estates were a place where you find terrorists, you mentioned that Spain was a country full of the old values that England was sadly lacking.

I then made the points to you that this was not true and proved it........

In response to this you say i need to see a shrink.....................hmmmmmmmmmmm  Well done Bob

Now i will shut up unless you want to bring it back up at all.

And................please dont send me to the same shrink as either Tony mal or yourself......

I Wish Sue

But........................i feel a bacardi and coke coming on tonight........please dont argue with me later......ha

Hi

Have you guys had the report details yet from the administration............if so what do you think of it right now?

Brian

Brian.

I then made the points to you that this was not true and PROVED it.......................You said.

Sorry Brian i am afraid you have lost me a little bit. Please with all your years of experience would you enlighten me how saying something actually proves it. Are you stating that because you SAID it, then you have PROVED it???????  OR, because it was you that said it, it really must be TRUE.

Did you know that the earth is not round but actually FLAT??? I have proved it Brian because i once travelled in a boat and we nearlly fell over the edge. God what an experience i will never forget.

          Bob.

Its lucky we had an outboard motor and not oars, god only knows what would have happened. I can tell you it was .............................

End of lesson and that definitely is my last post to you Brian.