Cost of living squeeze in 2022, 23 & 24 (Vol. 2)

[snuffy]

Mojooo said:

https://twitter.com/implausibleblog/status/1780521...

Ed Balls was of course correct, but he was laying it on with a trowel ! Obviously he knows that decreasing inflation does not mean prices are falling. However, Laura Trott's reply was nonsense; she just had the say the rate of increase was falling, and that you, Mr Balls, clearly understand that concept very well. She was very poor in her reply.

[snuffy]

leef44 said:

snuffy said:

raceboy said:

That's not a Club.

Yes, the word "Gold" as opposed to "Club" was indeed a bit of a clue !

I'm so out of touch with these things. I didn't know this was a different thing. They all look the same to me. Well the marketing worked out fooled me

Although the "gold" used to be the same size as Club so I thought they were the same thing.

I've not had a Club in years, I used to love them as a child. Now you have me thinking about them ! I wonder when they first appeared ?

[andygo]

I reckon they appeared in the 60's.

My dad had a pal that worked at the McVites factory in Speke and used to get large tins of unwrapped reject `club biscuits. We used to rummage around for the rejects that somehow were 100% chocolate.

They are bloody tiny these days, rip off!

[r3g]

snuffy said:

I've not had a Club in years, I used to love them as a child. Now you have me thinking about them ! I wonder when they first appeared ?

They are st now. The fact that you can eat the entire biscuit in one mouthful is bad enough, but the chocolate is some cheap-ass gloop now that tastes nasty and nothing like the original ones from when we were kids. Save your money.

[Downward]

leef44 said:

Some items, prices have not gone up, instead the product has shrunk in size.

This is a Club which used to be bigger than a Penguin. I've put it next to a Penguin so you get a feel of how much it has shrunk.

It's like Heinz chicken soup which used to fill over the rim of my soup plate but now does not reach the rim. The tin still says 400g but it looks like those grams have shrunk.

Reminds me of those multipacks of twix. 2 fingers but it’s half the size of a normal one !

Yazoos are now 400ml instead of 500ml but the price has gone up.

[AmyRichardson]

snuffy said:

Ed Balls was of course correct, but he was laying it on with a trowel ! Obviously he knows that decreasing inflation does not mean prices are falling. However, Laura Trott's reply was nonsense; she just had the say the rate of increase was falling, and that you, Mr Balls, clearly understand that concept very well. She was very poor in her reply.

Then communicate to the public that the rate is based on "the 12 months to..." and that the rate falling month-on-month could represent price falls in the month gone, or not...

But daytime tv presenter - not economist/stats nerd.

[Digga]

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

[Puzzles]

Yet when a planning application does in for new homes there’s a witch-hunt.

[isaldiri]

Turkeys don't vote for christmas. I'm guessing (too lazy to actually look at the numbers) that as far as numbers of people who actually vote are concerned, there are considerably more people who own houses than are seeking them and everyone starts losing their minds when the dreaded headlines of 'falling house prices' comes up so no politician is seriously going to push measures that might do so. It's easy to say younger people should be more able to get into the housing market but actions speak louder than words....

[ARHarh]

Digga said:

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

Just a thought, but long term unoccupied houses in the UK is standing at 261,189 https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-emp...

And second homes stands at 809,000 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-h...

Surely doing something about these would have far more effect on housing than getting Barrets to cram a bunch of houses in a field somewhere.

I have not checked how accurate those links are because i am sure they represent a reasonable guess at worst.

[Matthen]

ARHarh said:

Digga said:

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

Just a thought, but long term unoccupied houses in the UK is standing at 261,189 https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-emp...

And second homes stands at 809,000 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-h...

Surely doing something about these would have far more effect on housing than getting Barrets to cram a bunch of houses in a field somewhere.

I have not checked how accurate those links are because i am sure they represent a reasonable guess at worst.

Undoubtedly. But we need to do both, for the second homes are not generally in productivity centres : getting them back on the market will be of limited use to the people who want to live where there is gainful employment.

[JagLover]

Matthen said:

ARHarh said:

Digga said:

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

Just a thought, but long term unoccupied houses in the UK is standing at 261,189 https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-emp...

And second homes stands at 809,000 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-h...

Surely doing something about these would have far more effect on housing than getting Barrets to cram a bunch of houses in a field somewhere.

I have not checked how accurate those links are because i am sure they represent a reasonable guess at worst.

Undoubtedly. But we need to do both, for the second homes are not generally in productivity centres : getting them back on the market will be of limited use to the people who want to live where there is gainful employment.

Second homes that are holiday homes are not likely to be contributing much to housing shortages in the south east and also may not be necessarily be what they appear. My dad's bungalow is technically a second home but he lives there most of the time.

Another category of second home will be a commuter pad in the city, while the main residence is elsewhere, and again they will need to stay somewhere while at work.

[Randy Winkman]

Digga said:

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

Whenever I fly in to Gatwick, I look out of the window and revel in how much space there is, even in the south east of England.

[Digga]

I think some capacity could be freed-up by abolishin stamp duty land tax. It stops emotty nesters from downsizing if they are still inucrring SDLT on the smaller (but still pricey) new home and also reduces flexibility of the labour market by artificially 'holding' people down to a location.

[dandarez]

r3g said:

They are st now. The fact that you can eat the entire biscuit in one mouthful is bad enough, but the chocolate is some cheap-ass gloop now that tastes nasty and nothing like the original ones from when we were kids. Save your money.

Everything like that is st today - all full of palm oil, artificial crap etc. Regards Club biscuits they came out before the 60’s and if I recall originated in Ireland first. Also they were made by Jacob’s when I was a kid 1950s.

[Pit Pony]

Matthen said:

ARHarh said:

Digga said:

This, is the single biggest reason for the cost of living squeeze.



In magnitude and severity, this is the largest call on any ordinary working person's cash. Houses do not need to be so scarce or expensive. It is scandalous what useless planning, a greedy cartel of large builders and feckless politicians have created.

Just a thought, but long term unoccupied houses in the UK is standing at 261,189 https://www.bigissue.com/news/housing/how-many-emp...

And second homes stands at 809,000 https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/english-h...

Surely doing something about these would have far more effect on housing than getting Barrets to cram a bunch of houses in a field somewhere.

I have not checked how accurate those links are because i am sure they represent a reasonable guess at worst.

Undoubtedly. But we need to do both, for the second homes are not generally in productivity centres : getting them back on the market will be of limited use to the people who want to live where there is gainful employment.

There was a programme on the telly a few years ago that identified another 250k potential housing units above shops, which weren't really being used* by the owners or the shop keepers. And which probably could be converted for £35 to £40k, to one and 2 bed flats.

• if the business had access to the space, it was rarely heated or used for anything other than storing of stuff that was now obsolete.

[jdw100]

Pit Pony said:

There was a programme on the telly a few years ago that identified another 250k potential housing units above shops, which weren't really being used* by the owners or the shop keepers. And which probably could be converted for £35 to £40k, to one and 2 bed flats.

• if the business had access to the space, it was rarely heated or used for anything other than storing of stuff that was now obsolete.

From flat hunting in North London quite a few years back - could be very hard to get a mortgage on a flat above a shop.

[CoolHands]

Pit Pony said:

There was a programme on the telly a few years ago that identified another 250k potential housing units above shops, which weren't really being used* by the owners or the shop keepers. And which probably could be converted for £35 to £40k, to one and 2 bed flats.

• if the business had access to the space, it was rarely heated or used for anything other than storing of stuff that was now obsolete.

If they did that they’ve got the cost of conversion then all the hassle with tenants, can’t get them out when they stop paying etc. and also get taxed through the arse cos the govt really want big businesses to be the landlords not individuals. It’s not worth the grief

[Earthdweller]

snuffy said:

I've not had a Club in years, I used to love them as a child. Now you have me thinking about them ! I wonder when they first appeared ?

https://youtu.be/POCZqYiSMnE?si=jeYOr9d0mp0TxhaM

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our club

https://youtu.be/POCZqYiSMnE?si=jeYOr9d0mp0TxhaM

[cuprabob]

[quote=Earthdweller]

https://youtu.be/POCZqYiSMnE?si=jeYOr9d0mp0TxhaM

If you like a lot of chocolate on your biscuit join our club

https://youtu.be/POCZqYiSMnE?si=jeYOr9d0mp0TxhaM[/...

Now I can't get that out of my head...