Climbing The Property Ladder (C5)

[stain]

The bloke using the whacker plate in the mud! Genuine lol moment.

[Borroxs]

Shows that even fek wits can make money. As long as they are prepared to work for six months on something for free. You just need a couple of skilled slaves that don't need to eat.

[Laurel Green]

Hang on to your hard-hats, here we go again.

[TeeRev]

I've just watched an hour of that idiot architect Piers on BBC2, my blood pressure won't stand another dose of fools so I'm watching a recording of James Martin in France, food and wine is way more restful than building.

[nicanary]

Female couple made a good profit, obviously solely down to having the house spiritually cleansed. That'll be the reason, no doubt. Did anyone else think that island looked a tad too big for the kitchen? Can't have been, because it sold very quickly.

[Laurel Green]

TeeRev said:

I've just watched an hour of that idiot architect Piers on BBC2, my blood pressure won't stand another dose of fools so I'm watching a recording of James Martin in France, food and wine is way more restful than building.

I watched some of that - a blithering idiot is Piers IMO, though occasionally does come up with some good ideas, just not often enough.

OMG! A nutter has been let into the house for some 'special reports' on feelings of the rooms.

[Laurel Green]

The tiles in the new bathroom look terrible.

[TeeRev]

James Martin is just eating a beautiful lobster dish at a 2 star Michelin restaurant in Arles, nom nom nom!!!

[Laurel Green]

Nom nom nom to you too!

[nicanary]

Living in Northern Ireland, we don't have council tax, just old-style rates. Why do you lot on the mainland have to pay council tax on a vacant property? It's not using any council services - no bin collection, no street lighting, no anything. That's pure greed IMHO.

(Anyone else wonder why that house the women bought had a door opening outwards? Odd. Maybe there was something in the hallway which hindered normal installation.)

[LaurasOtherHalf]

nicanary said:

Living in Northern Ireland, we don't have council tax, just old-style rates. Why do you lot on the mainland have to pay council tax on a vacant property? It's not using any council services - no bin collection, no street lighting, no anything. That's pure greed IMHO.

It does though, if someone firebombed your unoccupied house you'd presumably want the fire service to put it out and the police to investigate?

Each borough can discount for empty properties however. In ours for instance we can get a 75% discount for uninhabitable dwellings so when doing up, first thing to do is whip the bathrooms out and disconnect the heating and services.

[nicanary]

LaurasOtherHalf said:

nicanary said:

Living in Northern Ireland, we don't have council tax, just old-style rates. Why do you lot on the mainland have to pay council tax on a vacant property? It's not using any council services - no bin collection, no street lighting, no anything. That's pure greed IMHO.

It does though, if someone firebombed your unoccupied house you'd presumably want the fire service to put it out and the police to investigate?

Each borough can discount for empty properties however. In ours for instance we can get a 75% discount for uninhabitable dwellings so when doing up, first thing to do is whip the bathrooms out and disconnect the heating and services.

Many years ago when I owned properties in England, no rates were payable until you moved furniture in. That's why I was curious.

[LaurasOtherHalf]

nicanary said:

LaurasOtherHalf said:

nicanary said:

Living in Northern Ireland, we don't have council tax, just old-style rates. Why do you lot on the mainland have to pay council tax on a vacant property? It's not using any council services - no bin collection, no street lighting, no anything. That's pure greed IMHO.

It does though, if someone firebombed your unoccupied house you'd presumably want the fire service to put it out and the police to investigate?

Each borough can discount for empty properties however. In ours for instance we can get a 75% discount for uninhabitable dwellings so when doing up, first thing to do is whip the bathrooms out and disconnect the heating and services.

Many years ago when I owned properties in England, no rates were payable until you moved furniture in. That's why I was curious.

Which would seem fairer but quite how our inept councils would check on that I have no idea! They could always pop round I suppose and knock on the door, but I'm sure everyone would simply answer "oh we moved in yesterday, we were going to let you know at the end of the month!"

[mark seeker]

I only started watching last week so I may have missed how they determine 'profit', but it feels like they fail to account for:

- Stamp duty
- Financing costs
- EA fees
- Legal fees

Last night numbers seemed hugely inflated?

[Laurel Green]

Not sure on which property but, seem to remember them stating 'after fees' when mentioning profit on last night's show.

[nicanary]

The two ladies were certainly doing all right, going by the figures quoted. They seemed to have a knack of buying at an ultra-low price in a good area. Presumably the builders were also dirt cheap, possibly Eastern European.

[Sheepshanks]

nicanary said:

Many years ago when I owned properties in England, no rates were payable until you moved furniture in. That's why I was curious.

I thought the main reason was to discourage people from leaving properites empty.

[Laurel Green]

Sheepshanks said:

I thought the main reason was to discourage people from leaving properites empty.

Yep, seems to have changed in 2013--> Empty home owners' council tax shock

[nicanary]

Laurel Green said:

Sheepshanks said:

I thought the main reason was to discourage people from leaving properites empty.

Yep, seems to have changed in 2013--> Empty home owners' council tax shock

My daughter bought her first home in NI in 2015 and had work done for about 3 months and didn't pay rates until she'd moved in. You lot live in the wrong country!

[mark seeker]

Laurel Green said:

Yep, seems to have changed in 2013--> Empty home owners' council tax shock

With effect from 1 April 2013, a new local discount of 50 percent for a maximum of 12 months has been introduced for properties in Haringey which are unoccupied and require, or are undergoing, major repair of structural alteration. If the works continue and the property remains unoccupied after 12 months the full council tax charge will be due.

In the event that the property is unoccupied for a period of 2 years, a premium of 50 percent will become due and your council tax will increase to 150 percent.