Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
That last one is a corker. A Darwin Award (Housebuilders' Category) for Darwin Green.
But he couldn't change it anyway. The charter doesn't come up for renewal until 2027. What a weird story. If he was saying ruling out any changes post 2027, now that would be a story.
That’s true but the government’s attitude to the BBC is much more supportive compared to the Tories who have spent years attacking it .
The long term future of the BBC is on more solid ground after the general election.
Yay to Labour, for their propping-up of what’s almost certainly the single most regressive tax of all, resulting in nearly 50,000 people per year, mostly women in single-adult households, receiving a criminal record for non-payment.
Those well off enough to afford an EV can evade it completely, those who need to drive an old banger to their minimum wage job aren't so fortunate.
The public transport enthusiasts on this forum will say that the poorest x% don’t go near a private car though, although I obviously agree with you on the substantive point that it costs a lot of money to be seen to be green.
You know you've made your point when.... it's not just binary car ownership, but the number of cars and the mileage driven a year.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
And some brave/mad cyclist chased him down and took the photo they police used to find him.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
And some brave/mad cyclist chased him down and took the photo they police used to find him.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Google: "famous bridges UK"
Lol number 1 is the Transporter Bridge! Then Clifton.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
Google: "famous bridges UK"
Lol number 1 is the Transporter Bridge! Then Clifton.
What is the villain version of the Keystones cops?
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
When that man who attacked his ex-partner as well her children with chemicals, and then he ended up in the Thames, there were lots of stories about how hard it is to find bodies, and how many bodies are never found. Which made it sound like the Thames is in fact a good place to dump a body.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the Clifton Suspension Bridge is pretty well suicide-proof nowadays, so throwing heavy cases over would probably be impossible..
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the Clifton Suspension Bridge is pretty well suicide-proof nowadays, so throwing heavy cases over would probably be impossible..
That is exactly what happened. The guy couldn't get them over the anti-jumper mesh and some cyclist some him struggling and obviously thought they were up to no good and took photos of them.
On a pedantic point Sorgue is singular, IIRC. (Given you are writing about it, and all.)
You’re right. Singular!
Tho I’m not writing about it. I’m staying in a friend’s loaned house just to focus on finishing a flint. I’m nearly done. His village is a great place to work because it’s beautiful but really boring in a good way. There’s not much to do but stare at the gorgeous views - and then work. So I work
C’est nearly termine tho. Moving on from Monday…
I’ve now been travelling around France for about six weeks - Paris Brittany Provence. Only Paris looked sad
Everywhere else looks downright thriving compared to Blighty, except that one town in finistere. And even that was lovely - but chavvy and tense
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the Clifton Suspension Bridge is pretty well suicide-proof nowadays, so throwing heavy cases over would probably be impossible..
Apprarently Plan A was to throw the suitcases off the top of the London Eye.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
In Abingdon, a local(ish) house builder proposed building an elevated roadway (sort of snaking around the site, with the houses elevated on pillars off it. The design was similar to some existing houses near the river.
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the Clifton Suspension Bridge is pretty well suicide-proof nowadays, so throwing heavy cases over would probably be impossible..
That is exactly what happened. The guy couldn't get them over the anti-jumper mesh and some cyclist some him struggling and obviously thought they were up to no good and took photos of them.
As I said the other day - evidence of poor training and skills. And/or a commentary on the lack of left luggage offices at railway stations - which used to be favoured for this kind of thing, IIRC.
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
They must have decided it was too risky dumping the suitcases in the Thames.
I can think of loads of better locations to do so than Clifton Suspension Bridge.
It was pointed out to me yesterday that the Clifton Suspension Bridge is pretty well suicide-proof nowadays, so throwing heavy cases over would probably be impossible..
Apprarently Plan A was to throw the suitcases off the top of the London Eye.
Post the remains to yourself second class via Royal Mail - a sure fire guarantee you will never see them again.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
Yep. Exactement
I was convinced he’s finished. Gone in a fortnight
Yet now I wonder. The democrats have intention tremor. It’s like killing Dad. They just can’t do it
And they will cherry pick polls and pretend it’s gonna be ok and disaster will ensue
Or maybe it will all be fine or maybe he will actually resign. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
He malfunctioned again last night. Albeit a minor one.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
Deprived of a gloopy sauce, diners can judge the quality of what lies beneath.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
"How the liberal elite turned on Joe Biden The President will stand aside, but the media have made an exhibition of their irrelevance. By Lee Siegel ................................................................................................................................................................. Biden will step aside; the calls for him to do so from other Democrats and from wealthy donors make that a fait accompli. But that will happen not because of pressure from the media or from Hollywood. It will be accomplished by good old-fashioned political elites, namely by powerful Democrats in the Senate. Chuck Schumer and others will pay a visit to Biden, tell him that either he steps aside or they humiliate him by holding a press conference calling on him to step aside, and, angry, bewildered and dazed, Biden will do so. The new reality of the American media, however, will have been revealed. It has no claws, or teeth. It is strictly in the business, as both Biden and Trump are, of hanging on."
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
Deprived of a gloopy sauce, diners can judge the quality of what lies beneath.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
Going through Star Trek: The Next Generation with my 12 year old daughter.
We reached 'Best of Both Worlds' this afternoon. After S3 episode 26, she just tapped 'next episode' and I laughed. Told her in the summer of 1990 the people in the United States had to wait three months to do what she just did in three seconds.
(We in Blighty only waited a week as well - in fact the BBC fouled that up - they bought the first three seasons, without realising S3E26 was a cliffhanger and had to buy S4E1 as a one off transaction).
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
Sounds like a Brexiter. Is that fascism now?
The context is different.
The original fascists had similar complaints about Anglo-led capitalism subverting their national destiny.
Going through Star Trek: The Next Generation with my 12 year old daughter.
We reached 'Best of Both Worlds' this afternoon. After S3 episode 26, she just tapped 'next episode' and I laughed. Told her in the summer of 1990 the people in the United States had to wait three months to do what she just did in three seconds.
(We in Blighty only waited a week as well - in fact the BBC fouled that up - they bought the first three seasons, without realising S3E26 was a cliffhanger and had to buy S4E1 as a one off transaction).
If only they hadn't had so many episodes of teenage kid saves the day.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
Deprived of a gloopy sauce, diners can judge the quality of what lies beneath.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
Sounds like a Brexiter. Is that fascism now?
The context is different.
The original fascists had similar complaints about Anglo-led capitalism subverting their national destiny.
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
He malfunctioned again last night. Albeit a minor one.
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
Yep. Exactement
I was convinced he’s finished. Gone in a fortnight
Yet now I wonder. The democrats have intention tremor. It’s like killing Dad. They just can’t do it
And they will cherry pick polls and pretend it’s gonna be ok and disaster will ensue
Or maybe it will all be fine or maybe he will actually resign. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
He's gone, no doubt about it. Just when. It currently looks likely he'll hang on until he has to hand over the keys to Trump. It's almost impossible to imagine that he'll get to be the next President. The territory somewhere in between is what's interesting.
Unfortunately Biden is a bit of a plank, so we'll just get Trump.
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
Yep. Exactement
I was convinced he’s finished. Gone in a fortnight
Yet now I wonder. The democrats have intention tremor. It’s like killing Dad. They just can’t do it
And they will cherry pick polls and pretend it’s gonna be ok and disaster will ensue
Or maybe it will all be fine or maybe he will actually resign. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
He's gone, no doubt about it. Just when. It currently looks likely he'll hang on until he has to hand over the keys to Trump. It's almost impossible to imagine that he'll get to be the next President. The territory somewhere in between is what's interesting.
Unfortunately Biden is a bit of a plank, so we'll just get Trump.
If they are smart, they will install America's frst female President this week - and put Trump's Convention completely in the shade.
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
Yep. Exactement
I was convinced he’s finished. Gone in a fortnight
Yet now I wonder. The democrats have intention tremor. It’s like killing Dad. They just can’t do it
And they will cherry pick polls and pretend it’s gonna be ok and disaster will ensue
Or maybe it will all be fine or maybe he will actually resign. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
He's gone, no doubt about it. Just when. It currently looks likely he'll hang on until he has to hand over the keys to Trump. It's almost impossible to imagine that he'll get to be the next President. The territory somewhere in between is what's interesting.
Unfortunately Biden is a bit of a plank, so we'll just get Trump.
If they are smart, they will install America's frst female President this week - and put Trump's Convention completely in the shade.
I agree entirely. And 'they' are smart, but it's Biden just clogging the obvious flow.
"Why so few men take up the pen With publishing now such a female-dominated industry, it’s no surprise that there are so few men writing fiction By Paul Burke"
"How the liberal elite turned on Joe Biden The President will stand aside, but the media have made an exhibition of their irrelevance. By Lee Siegel ................................................................................................................................................................. Biden will step aside; the calls for him to do so from other Democrats and from wealthy donors make that a fait accompli. But that will happen not because of pressure from the media or from Hollywood. It will be accomplished by good old-fashioned political elites, namely by powerful Democrats in the Senate. Chuck Schumer and others will pay a visit to Biden, tell him that either he steps aside or they humiliate him by holding a press conference calling on him to step aside, and, angry, bewildered and dazed, Biden will do so. The new reality of the American media, however, will have been revealed. It has no claws, or teeth. It is strictly in the business, as both Biden and Trump are, of hanging on."
"How the liberal elite turned on Joe Biden The President will stand aside, but the media have made an exhibition of their irrelevance. By Lee Siegel ................................................................................................................................................................. Biden will step aside; the calls for him to do so from other Democrats and from wealthy donors make that a fait accompli. But that will happen not because of pressure from the media or from Hollywood. It will be accomplished by good old-fashioned political elites, namely by powerful Democrats in the Senate. Chuck Schumer and others will pay a visit to Biden, tell him that either he steps aside or they humiliate him by holding a press conference calling on him to step aside, and, angry, bewildered and dazed, Biden will do so. The new reality of the American media, however, will have been revealed. It has no claws, or teeth. It is strictly in the business, as both Biden and Trump are, of hanging on."
God himself couldn’t get Biden to withdraw from the race . I fear we’re stuck with him .
There has to be a pretty big chance he'll just keel over with all this pressure. He clearly has dementia issues, but his physically frailty is even clearer. Every move he makes you can see him calculating the risks of a nose-dive.
As I said already he's gone, just yet to announce when.
Every day that Biden manages to get through without a major embarrassment seems to be taken as an excuse for the Democrats to stick their heads back into the sand.
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
He malfunctioned again last night. Albeit a minor one.
Sunday: 20 million people watch a football match live on the BBC.
Well if you want some numbers, under 30s watch about 35 minutes of live TV and the over 75s watch 8 times as much. Viewing by young people halved between 2017 and 2022. This is a path that in any other industry would result in top-to-bottom restructuring, it's an existential issue for the BBC. Carrying on doing the same old thing will end the BBC.
I'm hardly under 30 but in fact this month is I think the first time I've watched live TV this year, a combination of the election results and football.
I would watch cricket, which would bump my hours up if there was any.
Forgot about the Six Nations - saw a couple of them too.
THE Sport of the Six Nations (aka Iroquois Confederacy) is Lacrosse.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
In Abingdon, a local(ish) house builder proposed building an elevated roadway (sort of snaking around the site, with the houses elevated on pillars off it. The design was similar to some existing houses near the river.
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
Are you syre the reason wasn't because it would *divert* the waters onto the neighbours?
"Why so few men take up the pen With publishing now such a female-dominated industry, it’s no surprise that there are so few men writing fiction By Paul Burke"
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
You don't appreciate what you have when you are used to it.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
In Abingdon, a local(ish) house builder proposed building an elevated roadway (sort of snaking around the site, with the houses elevated on pillars off it. The design was similar to some existing houses near the river.
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
Could you provide a reference for this; I'm extremely interested. I can't find anything in a quick search, and planning guidelines are explicit that impact on property values cannot be used to reject a submission (and if someone tried to do so, would be routinely overturned at appeal).
Flooding in Abingdon (and Steventon and Milton) are very much live issues at the moment and proposals to deal with this are of great interest and if an earlier administration in the District Council managed to quash useful designs, I'd like to look at them to see if they could be resurrected.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
You don't appreciate what you have when you are used to it.
I think that's right, but fair's fair and the US and France should give us back our lands asap. If pressed we could find a spot for Biden in Highgate. and no doubt some sort of minor honour for Macron. An easy deal surely!
"Why so few men take up the pen With publishing now such a female-dominated industry, it’s no surprise that there are so few men writing fiction By Paul Burke"
Wading through shelves of dross with pastel coloured spines and the title in a curly font to find something that may be worth reading can be a trifle frustrating.
Which is a bit embarrassing for the socks&sandals brigade.
All the Greens are, aren't they. Must admit I hadn't noticed.
I have. Greeny and Libdemmery is what very posh English white people do when they're well-off and want to show they have a conscience.
Just look at XR or JSO. Totally 100% that type.
I'm not 'posh'! Educated.maybe, light Essex accent, but not posh!
I'm serious. It's all class.
Labour? God, no. Too working class, blue collar, maybe a bit shopfloorly or street violent and sweary. Oiks. Plus, they might be serious about this red flag and socialism stuff and come right after you. Scary.
Tories? Erugh, no. Far too suburban and Daily Mail. Lower middle class to middle middle class people who are uppity, lack any sort of taste, won't stay in their place, react, and lack sophistication. Bourgeois. Erugh erugh erugh.
So, they look down on both. They vote Lib Dem. Or Green. Not really serious but vaguely soft-lefty, unthreatening and socially acceptable to their peer group. Says the right things about them.
Some will vote Tory in the privacy of the voting booth if they're really worried about their assets and wealth. But they'll do it quietly and won't tell a soul.
They're not the really really posh of the old school though. Those people are usually red in tooth and claw Tories and fiercely patriotic - the sort whose cartridge bags and plus fours are proudly made in England. Posh lib dems are an arriviste Heseltine 'buys their own furniture' type of posh. Perhaps their discomfort within the class system is at the root of their desire to swap the old establishment for something more French.
Correct. It's not landed posh (they're almost all Tory) it's upper middle class who have a lot of money, probably a generation or two in from starting businesses beforehand. They now have a real distaste about their origins, and want to disassociate themselves from it.
Subtle difference.
This is utter bollocks. You have an incredibly distorted view of your fellow Britons.
Which is a bit embarrassing for the socks&sandals brigade.
All the Greens are, aren't they. Must admit I hadn't noticed.
I have. Greeny and Libdemmery is what very posh English white people do when they're well-off and want to show they have a conscience.
Just look at XR or JSO. Totally 100% that type.
I'm not 'posh'! Educated.maybe, light Essex accent, but not posh!
I'm serious. It's all class.
Labour? God, no. Too working class, blue collar, maybe a bit shopfloorly or street violent and sweary. Oiks. Plus, they might be serious about this red flag and socialism stuff and come right after you. Scary.
Tories? Erugh, no. Far too suburban and Daily Mail. Lower middle class to middle middle class people who are uppity, lack any sort of taste, won't stay in their place, react, and lack sophistication. Bourgeois. Erugh erugh erugh.
So, they look down on both. They vote Lib Dem. Or Green. Not really serious but vaguely soft-lefty, unthreatening and socially acceptable to their peer group. Says the right things about them.
Some will vote Tory in the privacy of the voting booth if they're really worried about their assets and wealth. But they'll do it quietly and won't tell a soul.
They're not the really really posh of the old school though. Those people are usually red in tooth and claw Tories and fiercely patriotic - the sort whose cartridge bags and plus fours are proudly made in England. Posh lib dems are an arriviste Heseltine 'buys their own furniture' type of posh. Perhaps their discomfort within the class system is at the root of their desire to swap the old establishment for something more French.
Correct. It's not landed posh (they're almost all Tory) it's upper middle class who have a lot of money, probably a generation or two in from starting businesses beforehand. They now have a real distaste about their origins, and want to disassociate themselves from it.
Subtle difference.
This is utter bollocks. You have an incredibly distorted view of your fellow Britons.
Hilariously tetchy post.
The only one who talks bollocks on here is YOU.
The only one?????
You must have spewed four-letter words at half the people here!
Which is a bit embarrassing for the socks&sandals brigade.
All the Greens are, aren't they. Must admit I hadn't noticed.
I have. Greeny and Libdemmery is what very posh English white people do when they're well-off and want to show they have a conscience.
Just look at XR or JSO. Totally 100% that type.
I'm not 'posh'! Educated.maybe, light Essex accent, but not posh!
I'm serious. It's all class.
Labour? God, no. Too working class, blue collar, maybe a bit shopfloorly or street violent and sweary. Oiks. Plus, they might be serious about this red flag and socialism stuff and come right after you. Scary.
Tories? Erugh, no. Far too suburban and Daily Mail. Lower middle class to middle middle class people who are uppity, lack any sort of taste, won't stay in their place, react, and lack sophistication. Bourgeois. Erugh erugh erugh.
So, they look down on both. They vote Lib Dem. Or Green. Not really serious but vaguely soft-lefty, unthreatening and socially acceptable to their peer group. Says the right things about them.
Some will vote Tory in the privacy of the voting booth if they're really worried about their assets and wealth. But they'll do it quietly and won't tell a soul.
They're not the really really posh of the old school though. Those people are usually red in tooth and claw Tories and fiercely patriotic - the sort whose cartridge bags and plus fours are proudly made in England. Posh lib dems are an arriviste Heseltine 'buys their own furniture' type of posh. Perhaps their discomfort within the class system is at the root of their desire to swap the old establishment for something more French.
Correct. It's not landed posh (they're almost all Tory) it's upper middle class who have a lot of money, probably a generation or two in from starting businesses beforehand. They now have a real distaste about their origins, and want to disassociate themselves from it.
Subtle difference.
This is utter bollocks. You have an incredibly distorted view of your fellow Britons.
Hilariously tetchy post.
The only one who talks bollocks on here is YOU.
The only one?????
You must have spewed four-letter words at half the people here!
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
Yes, I stand by my conservative theory. The French vote for the RN BECAUSE most of France is beautiful and they want to keep it that way. They know they are lucky. So it’s essentially a conservative vote, not a radical vote
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
In a sense the people who vote for Melenchon are unironically the real fascists because they want to overthrow the Anglo-American capitalist world order and restore France to its rightful place as a global civilisational power.
Do they? I thought he was just some corbynite Jew hating Marxist? Is he a nationalist as well?!
Very much so. He regularly complains about the EU flag and says things like, "France is global, not European."
Sounds like a Brexiter. Is that fascism now?
The context is different.
The original fascists had similar complaints about Anglo-led capitalism subverting their national destiny.
Correct. This is Scramble-for-Africa empire envy.
There has always been a layer of hard cultural nationalism in French politics. Makes the Kipling & Tennyson fan club seem mild.
A friend moved to France and, seeing some posters, when to an anti-McDonalds rally. Only to find it full of blood-and-soil types.
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
In Abingdon, a local(ish) house builder proposed building an elevated roadway (sort of snaking around the site, with the houses elevated on pillars off it. The design was similar to some existing houses near the river.
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
Could you provide a reference for this; I'm extremely interested. I can't find anything in a quick search, and planning guidelines are explicit that impact on property values cannot be used to reject a submission (and if someone tried to do so, would be routinely overturned at appeal).
Flooding in Abingdon (and Steventon and Milton) are very much live issues at the moment and proposals to deal with this are of great interest and if an earlier administration in the District Council managed to quash useful designs, I'd like to look at them to see if they could be resurrected.
I’d have to dig to find it. IIRC they officially rejected it for other reasons but the sentiment was expressed in public by council officials.
Which is a bit embarrassing for the socks&sandals brigade.
All the Greens are, aren't they. Must admit I hadn't noticed.
I have. Greeny and Libdemmery is what very posh English white people do when they're well-off and want to show they have a conscience.
Just look at XR or JSO. Totally 100% that type.
I'm not 'posh'! Educated.maybe, light Essex accent, but not posh!
I'm serious. It's all class.
Labour? God, no. Too working class, blue collar, maybe a bit shopfloorly or street violent and sweary. Oiks. Plus, they might be serious about this red flag and socialism stuff and come right after you. Scary.
Tories? Erugh, no. Far too suburban and Daily Mail. Lower middle class to middle middle class people who are uppity, lack any sort of taste, won't stay in their place, react, and lack sophistication. Bourgeois. Erugh erugh erugh.
So, they look down on both. They vote Lib Dem. Or Green. Not really serious but vaguely soft-lefty, unthreatening and socially acceptable to their peer group. Says the right things about them.
Some will vote Tory in the privacy of the voting booth if they're really worried about their assets and wealth. But they'll do it quietly and won't tell a soul.
They're not the really really posh of the old school though. Those people are usually red in tooth and claw Tories and fiercely patriotic - the sort whose cartridge bags and plus fours are proudly made in England. Posh lib dems are an arriviste Heseltine 'buys their own furniture' type of posh. Perhaps their discomfort within the class system is at the root of their desire to swap the old establishment for something more French.
Correct. It's not landed posh (they're almost all Tory) it's upper middle class who have a lot of money, probably a generation or two in from starting businesses beforehand. They now have a real distaste about their origins, and want to disassociate themselves from it.
Subtle difference.
This is utter bollocks. You have an incredibly distorted view of your fellow Britons.
Hilariously tetchy post.
The only one who talks bollocks on here is YOU.
The only one?????
You must have spewed four-letter words at half the people here!
If they piss me off, yes.
So don't piss me off.
Hard not to shudder in fear when such threats are made.
It must be hard for French holidaymakers coz if they go literally anywhere else it won’t be as beautiful or impressive. Maybe Italy is tolerable at a pinch
Tho the food will be better
France is a beautiful country. I do wonder why the French then are always pissed off, striking, rioting, voting for extremists....as the kids say, go out and touch grass.
You don't appreciate what you have when you are used to it.
I think that's right, but fair's fair and the US and France should give us back our lands asap. If pressed we could find a spot for Biden in Highgate. and no doubt some sort of minor honour for Macron. An easy deal surely!
ProRata and Andy_JS - In the US -- and, I suspect, the UK --rather few books are being published that might appeal to boys. And that shortage is in spite of the astonishing success of the Harry Potter books.
Or the past success of series like Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys.
Or, the "juveniles", as they were called then, written by Robert Heinlein, for example, "Farmer in the Sky", "The Rolling Stones", "Citizen of the Galaxy", and "The Star Beast".
Time for a reminder of the mountain that the new Government has to climb to fulfil its house building targets. It's not just determined Nimby resistance and the question marks over the capacity of the construction industry to deliver. It's also the terrible game of financial Russian roulette that buyers of new builds have to play.
When Dayle Dixon and Mark Lee bought an attractive new house on the outskirts of Ivybridge in Devon in 2018, they believed it would be their forever home. But less than six years later it has been valued at just £1, and the couple are desperate to move out...
...the property, which they bought from the Barratt Developments subsidiary David Wilson Homes for £274,995, was valued last year by independent chartered surveyors at £1 after a catalogue of major defects emerged. The surveyors said that without the problems, it would have been worth £330,000...
...Since they moved in Dixon has had time signed off work suffering from stress and anxiety, which she blames on the problems.
“I have developed PTSD, suffer from nightmares and sweats and can’t function properly. A lot of the time I feel physically sick,” she says. “We are living in a house that is a complete mess.”
The chartered surveyors who last year valued the couple’s house at £1 listed numerous defects in their valuation report, including inadequate damp proofing, water ingress, inadequate floor screed (used to create an even floor surface), inadequate window design, and damaged and corroding structural floor beams.
The report stated: “The ground floor will have to be stripped back to shell stage, sections of structural walls and floors will have to be removed, and it is likely that further defects which will require repair will be identified as works progress.”
House builders destroy people's lives when they flog them grossly deficient properties which, for reasons known only unto God, aren't covered by the same consumer protections applied to other products. If you buy a dodgy kettle for a tenner from Tesco and it won't work properly you can take it back to the shop and demand a refund. If you spend half-a-million quid on a new house that turns out to be structurally unsound then all you can do is plead desperately, and with no guarantee of success, with the builder for their mistakes to be corrected. As a result, I would never even consider buying a new build and I'm sure I'm not alone.
Incidentally, for another one of David Wilson Homes' greatest hits, just search "David Wilson Homes Cambridge demolition." The best that can be said of that example is that the build quality was so bad that the properties concerned were never inflicted upon unsuspecting and very unlucky buyers.
I've been commenting on here for years about the low-quality of many new builds. Many are terrible, and cost a fortune. That story is exceptional, but not too exceptional.
The ones in my hometown suffer from surface flooding. They bulldozed a field to make it completely level (standard procedure) and *shocked Pikachu*.
In Abingdon, a local(ish) house builder proposed building an elevated roadway (sort of snaking around the site, with the houses elevated on pillars off it. The design was similar to some existing houses near the river.
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
Could you provide a reference for this; I'm extremely interested. I can't find anything in a quick search, and planning guidelines are explicit that impact on property values cannot be used to reject a submission (and if someone tried to do so, would be routinely overturned at appeal).
Flooding in Abingdon (and Steventon and Milton) are very much live issues at the moment and proposals to deal with this are of great interest and if an earlier administration in the District Council managed to quash useful designs, I'd like to look at them to see if they could be resurrected.
There's a new development outside Launceston called Kensey Valley Meadow. The Kensey is a river which flows into the Tamar half a mile on. There is a multi acre sewage works at the confluence. I never drive past the road sign without thinking You were warned.
So I guess Biden is staying then? His handlers are handling him very tightly.
I can't see how he can. The endgame still looks like Harris to me, but it looks increasingly messy getting there.
What I don't really understand is that there aren't enough people close to Biden who recognise that they are handing the Presidency to Trump on a plate right now.
Rather late to the party but thanks for the kind words from this morning.
London is complex politically and if anything more so after the events of July 4th. Some raised the issue of the salience of the Gaza question and its influence on UK politics in the future. That's an imponderbale - in Newham, the "cause" has been led by Corbynite Momentum types thrown out of Labour who have picked up and run with the anger in the Muslim community.
To be fair, Newham Independents aren't a one trick pony as Respect were - they are hugely critical of Newham Council (with plenty of justification) and have tapped into a rich vein of dissatisfaction about the Council has been run by Roksana Fiaz, the Mayor. Under the previous incumbent, Sir Robin Wales, Newham was scoring well on a numbe rof measures but there has been a notable decline under Fiaz who, inevitably, blames central Government.
As to how this will play in 2026 at the next local elections, I've no clue.
On Merton, it's a huge task for the LDs to take control but I could see it analogous to how Southwark was in the 80s and 90s when Simon Hughes was a local MP. The LDs controlled all the Wards in Hughes's constituency up by the river but Labour controlled the centre of the Borough around Peckham, East Dulwich and Nunhead and the Conservatives had the very south of the Borough around Dulwich Village until finally thrown off the council in 2018. Over a number of electiosn from the mid-80s, the LDs built up their council base and became largest party in 2002 (30-28) but slipped back to 28-28 in 2006 and by 2022 it was back to 11-52 with Labour in complete control.
As for Merton, It's likely the LDs will control all the Wards in Wimbledon constituency and will pretty much push the Conservatives out of those areas. The marginal Wards of Abbey and Wandle will be fascinating but Labour have the stronghold of the east of the Borough which gives them 27 seats. The Merton Park Residents have their two so the LDs probably have a maximum of 27 as well with a lot depending on whether the Conservatives can do anything in Lower Morden. It's less a question of taking control in their own right than taking enough seats to deprive Labour of their majority.
So I guess Biden is staying then? His handlers are handling him very tightly.
I can't see how he can. The endgame still looks like Harris to me, but it looks increasingly messy getting there.
What I don't really understand is that there aren't enough people close to Biden who recognise that they are handing the Presidency to Trump on a plate right now.
Greed (for reflected glory) and fear (of being struck down with great vengeance and furious anger after a botched coup) explain most of it
So I guess Biden is staying then? His handlers are handling him very tightly.
I can't see how he can. The endgame still looks like Harris to me, but it looks increasingly messy getting there.
What I don't really understand is that there aren't enough people close to Biden who recognise that they are handing the Presidency to Trump on a plate right now.
Consider the people who backed our recent run of prime ministers.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. We have previously commented on the near delusional self belief in many top politicians - this probably extends to their immediate supporters.
It’s worth considering, as well, that those close to Biden will be swept away if Harris becomes President. The first thing she will do is bring in her own people. So you are asking people to take the 50/50 possibility of losing theirs jobs and power and turn it into a 100% certainty.
ProRata and Andy_JS - In the US -- and, I suspect, the UK --rather few books are being published that might appeal to boys. And that shortage is in spite of the astonishing success of the Harry Potter books.
Or the past success of series like Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys.
Or, the "juveniles", as they were called then, written by Robert Heinlein, for example, "Farmer in the Sky", "The Rolling Stones", "Citizen of the Galaxy", and "The Star Beast".
No doubt those familiar with books in the UK can think of other examples.
But here is a point that fascinates me: In the US, publishers, and some authors, are giving up a lot of money, rather than write for boys.
There are quite a lot of books being published in the juvenile spy genre. The Alex Rider books by Anthony Horowitz and the Young James Bond books by Charlie Higson. There are also a lot of book series that are for both sexes but which have male protagonists from both the UK and US - The Gone series by Michael Grant, Artemis Fowl by Eoin Colfer and the Young Sherlock Holmes series by Andrew Lane. I have a 16 year old son and he has had no trouble finding plenty to read although he has now moved ontyo more adult books.
So I guess Biden is staying then? His handlers are handling him very tightly.
He can't be made to go.
Well, you could 25th him.
But that would result in a massive crisis. 52 card pickup electorally. Could lose the election then and there.
Section 4 has never been invoked.
It'd be a hell of a gamble.
It would. Note that the president is automatically displaced and has to fight his way back by persuading one third of Congress that he is competent to resume office. Big ask.
So I guess Biden is staying then? His handlers are handling him very tightly.
I can't see how he can. The endgame still looks like Harris to me, but it looks increasingly messy getting there.
What I don't really understand is that there aren't enough people close to Biden who recognise that they are handing the Presidency to Trump on a plate right now.
They don't seem to care. They just see it as the best avenue to keep hold of power. His wife is evil.
Comments
I was at a High School and really starting to take an interest when King George died. Had to learn a new Scout Promise and National Anthem!
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/tennis/live/c0ddm4pvn8nt
The “Venice of Provence”. L’isle-sur-La-Sorgues
Especially as a tapir has predicted Spain will win.
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/gallery/2024/jul/12/an-ugly-dog-movie-star-and-a-tapir-predicts-the-euros-final-photos-of-the-day-friday
On a pedantic point Sorgue is singular, IIRC. (Given you are writing about it, and all.)
She lost the first set in the final 2-6...
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c0xj9vlg763o
What a weird case. Clearly two people have been murdered, hacked into pieces and then somebody has loaded some of the body parts into suitcases, taken a train from London to Bristol, in a taxi and then intended to throw the suitcases off the suspension bridge...why the Clifton Suspension bridge?
Obviously not the sharpest tool as didn't realise there was meshing to stop people jumping made it very difficult to get the suitcases over the bridge, but also clearly didn't realise that the change in water level below is massive...not exactly ideal to dispose of things with hope of never been found. At low tide, there is very little water in the estuary below.
Lol number 1 is the Transporter Bridge! Then Clifton.
Tho the food will be better
Tho I’m not writing about it. I’m staying in a friend’s loaned house just to focus on finishing a flint. I’m nearly done. His village is a great place to work because it’s beautiful but really boring in a good way. There’s not much to do but stare at the gorgeous views - and then work. So I work
C’est nearly termine tho. Moving on from Monday…
I’ve now been travelling around France for about six weeks - Paris Brittany Provence. Only Paris looked sad
Everywhere else looks downright thriving compared to Blighty, except that one town in finistere. And even that was lovely - but chavvy and tense
The idea was that when the area flooded, as it does every decade or so, water could flow around as it always does - your garden would get a bit damp, but your services, access etc would be fine.
The design was rejected because it would have impacted local property values. The clowns at the council thought that such building “implied the area flooded”.
Bombing a humanitarian zone, killing 71 innocent people.
The people who vote for melenchon I just don’t understand at all!
They are starting to make the Tory Party look competent.
A phrase that most of us hoped had gone out of style in the 13th century.
I was convinced he’s finished. Gone in a fortnight
Yet now I wonder. The democrats have intention tremor. It’s like killing Dad. They just can’t do it
And they will cherry pick polls and pretend it’s gonna be ok and disaster will ensue
Or maybe it will all be fine or maybe he will actually resign. 🤷🏼♂️🤷🏼♂️
The President will stand aside, but the media have made an exhibition of their irrelevance.
By Lee Siegel
.................................................................................................................................................................
Biden will step aside; the calls for him to do so from other Democrats and from wealthy donors make that a fait accompli. But that will happen not because of pressure from the media or from Hollywood. It will be accomplished by good old-fashioned political elites, namely by powerful Democrats in the Senate. Chuck Schumer and others will pay a visit to Biden, tell him that either he steps aside or they humiliate him by holding a press conference calling on him to step aside, and, angry, bewildered and dazed, Biden will do so. The new reality of the American media, however, will have been revealed. It has no claws, or teeth. It is strictly in the business, as both Biden and Trump are, of hanging on."
https://www.newstatesman.com/the-weekend-essay/2024/07/how-the-liberal-elite-turned-on-joe-biden
Is that fascism now?
We reached 'Best of Both Worlds' this afternoon. After S3 episode 26, she just tapped 'next episode' and I laughed. Told her in the summer of 1990 the people in the United States had to wait three months to do what she just did in three seconds.
(We in Blighty only waited a week as well - in fact the BBC fouled that up - they bought the first three seasons, without realising S3E26 was a cliffhanger and had to buy S4E1 as a one off transaction).
The original fascists had similar complaints about Anglo-led capitalism subverting their national destiny.
https://www.gbnews.com/politics/us/joe-biden-gaffe-democrat-donors-threat-withhold-funds
Well, I did say 'major'.
Unfortunately Biden is a bit of a plank, so we'll just get Trump.
With publishing now such a female-dominated industry, it’s no surprise that there are so few men writing fiction
By Paul Burke"
https://thecritic.co.uk/issues/july-2024/why-so-few-men-take-up-the-pen/
As I said already he's gone, just yet to announce when.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Six_Nations
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lacrosse
Just look at the 11-16 section in Waterstones.
I can't find anything in a quick search, and planning guidelines are explicit that impact on property values cannot be used to reject a submission (and if someone tried to do so, would be routinely overturned at appeal).
Flooding in Abingdon (and Steventon and Milton) are very much live issues at the moment and proposals to deal with this are of great interest and if an earlier administration in the District Council managed to quash useful designs, I'd like to look at them to see if they could be resurrected.
https://www.railforums.co.uk/threads/which-year-will-the-uk-go-cashless.270522/
Henry Patten plays alongside Finland's Harri Heliovaara against Aussies Max Purcell and Jordan Thompson.
2-2 so far in the first set.
Edit; comes from Colchester. Local lad.
You must have spewed four-letter words at half the people here!
So don't piss me off.
A friend moved to France and, seeing some posters, when to an anti-McDonalds rally. Only to find it full of blood-and-soil types.
What do they gain by delaying? The same handful of candidates will be installing phone lines, whether next week or in October.
Or the past success of series like Tom Swift, and the Hardy Boys.
Or, the "juveniles", as they were called then, written by Robert Heinlein, for example, "Farmer in the Sky", "The Rolling Stones", "Citizen of the Galaxy", and "The Star Beast".
Or the books written by Andre Norton: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Andre_Norton
No doubt those familiar with books in the UK can think of other examples.
But here is a point that fascinates me: In the US, publishers, and some authors, are giving up a lot of money, rather than write for boys.
What I don't really understand is that there aren't enough people close to Biden who recognise that they are handing the Presidency to Trump on a plate right now.
Rather late to the party but thanks for the kind words from this morning.
London is complex politically and if anything more so after the events of July 4th. Some raised the issue of the salience of the Gaza question and its influence on UK politics in the future. That's an imponderbale - in Newham, the "cause" has been led by Corbynite Momentum types thrown out of Labour who have picked up and run with the anger in the Muslim community.
To be fair, Newham Independents aren't a one trick pony as Respect were - they are hugely critical of Newham Council (with plenty of justification) and have tapped into a rich vein of dissatisfaction about the Council has been run by Roksana Fiaz, the Mayor. Under the previous incumbent, Sir Robin Wales, Newham was scoring well on a numbe rof measures but there has been a notable decline under Fiaz who, inevitably, blames central Government.
As to how this will play in 2026 at the next local elections, I've no clue.
On Merton, it's a huge task for the LDs to take control but I could see it analogous to how Southwark was in the 80s and 90s when Simon Hughes was a local MP. The LDs controlled all the Wards in Hughes's constituency up by the river but Labour controlled the centre of the Borough around Peckham, East Dulwich and Nunhead and the Conservatives had the very south of the Borough around Dulwich Village until finally thrown off the council in 2018. Over a number of electiosn from the mid-80s, the LDs built up their council base and became largest party in 2002 (30-28) but slipped back to 28-28 in 2006 and by 2022 it was back to 11-52 with Labour in complete control.
As for Merton, It's likely the LDs will control all the Wards in Wimbledon constituency and will pretty much push the Conservatives out of those areas. The marginal Wards of Abbey and Wandle will be fascinating but Labour have the stronghold of the east of the Borough which gives them 27 seats. The Merton Park Residents have their two so the LDs probably have a maximum of 27 as well with a lot depending on whether the Conservatives can do anything in Lower Morden. It's less a question of taking control in their own right than taking enough seats to deprive Labour of their majority.
Denial is not just a river in Egypt. We have previously commented on the near delusional self belief in many top politicians - this probably extends to their immediate supporters.
It’s worth considering, as well, that those close to Biden will be swept away if Harris becomes President. The first thing she will do is bring in her own people. So you are asking people to take the 50/50 possibility of losing theirs jobs and power and turn it into a 100% certainty.
But that would result in a massive crisis. 52 card pickup electorally. Could lose the election then and there.
It'd be a hell of a gamble.
Or they are his political appointees - who live or die by him. They will be out of their jobs 5 seconds after Biden goes.
The SNPs Scotland. A man who rapes a 10 year old girl jailed for only 7, years. Oh and by the way he has two other similar offences for which
This is the same Conservative Party that was going to be reduced to zero seats? Or replaced as the Official Opposition?
Leave it out...