Road tax impact on tradespeople
On the way to work this morning, I saw a woman put her daughter into the back of her Chelsea Tractor and drive her no more than 80m to the bus stop at the end of the road. With people like this on the road, I'm all for taxing the petrol guzzling Sloans up to the eye balls.
But it's not just the gentry of Belgravia which are affected by the recent announcement to increase taxes on vehicles with higher emissions, self-employed tradesmen will catch the brunt of the indulgences of the wealthy trying to keep up with the Jones'.
And casting an eye down the money saving alternatives doesn't make for practical reading - a Prius is ideal for the school run but loaded with two palettes of tiles and a 3 piece bathroom suite, the fuzzy feeling of saving the world quickly subsides.
RHS calls for VAT reduction on plants and seeds
The Royal Horticultural Society has luaunched a petition to reduce the VAT payable on plants and seeds in a bid to encourage greener gardens in the United Kingdom.
Inga Grimsey from the RHS said “If every person was given the means to plant up their garden, window box or patio tubs, just imagine what could be achieved. Unless more people are encouraged to grow plants, the Britain that was once known as a nation of gardeners faces the likelihood of a bleak, brown future.”
I suppose the question remains - when a pack of seeds costs under a pound, is the burden of cost the real reason why people aren't greener fingered? For my money, it will take more than a price cut to get Britain off the couch and into the beds.
Construction insolvencies up by 35%
The building and construction sector has been hit by the highest increase in insolvencies of any industry sector - a jump of 35% in the past 12 months. A total of 449 building and construction campanies became insolvent between April and June 2008 according the PWC, whose spokesperson cited a drying up of work as a result of falling housing prices as the main cause of the rise.
Builder destroys cricket star's home
Posted by James Mace at 17:24 on 01 Aug 2008
penzance builder, cricket, neil edwards, builders rampageA builder from Penzance went on a rampage, destroying the home of a star cricketer who he believed was having an affair with his wife.
The player in question was Somerset player Neil Edwards who was away playing in South Africa at the time. Whilst abroad, John Matthews, 50, caused £9,000 worth of damage by sawing a bed in half, cutting up curtains, pouring expanding foam down toilets and pouring creosote over furniture.
Matthews yesterday admitted in the Taunton Magistrate’s Court to causing more than £5,000 damage to the home.
Google Street View gets the go ahead
The UK's privacy watchdog has approved Google's controversial photomapping tool Google Street View. The program integrates photos of streets into Google Maps to enable users to get an accurate impression of what locations look like.
House prices falling at record rate
Posted by James Mace at 10:04 on 31 Jul 2008
house prices, negative equity, halifax house price indexNationwide have released their house price index figures today and it certainly makes for grim reading if you’re a homeowner. There’s been an 8.1% drop in the last year, with the average house price now at £169,316 – that’s £15,000 cheaper than in the same month last year.
House prices have now fallen for nine months in a row and are at their lowest level since August 2006. However, property prices are still £11,000 higher than they were three years ago.
Nationwide’s chief economist Fionnula Earley stated, "The weakening economy and poor housing market sentiment do not suggest that the market will recover quickly. As the cost of mortgages begins to come down, activity could be bolstered and restore some liquidity to the housing market."
The cost of DIY disasters
According to a survey conducted by Confused.com, DIY disasters cost the average Brit £669.58. 1 in 5 men admit to a self-inflicted disaster with just 8% of women fessing up to the same. That said, women’s DIY disasters are costlier than those of their male counterparts; the average resulting home insurance claim for women is a whopping £758.58, compared with £556.36 for men.
The survey also showed the most accident prone city in the UK to be Edinburgh, where 25% of DIYers have claimed on their insurance following a botched effort.
If you're more GSI than DIY, use one of our tradespeople in the ProblemSolved directory...
1 in 7 will face negative equity
Posted by Jonathan Peace at 14:01 on 30 Jul 2008
According to ratings agency Standard and Poor's, statistics show that 1 in 7 UK homeowners will go into negative equity in the next 12 months. A report published in today's Guardian predicted that for every percentage point that values fall, a further 0.5-1.5% of borrowers would fall into the red - and with properties predicted to drop by 17% that spells bad news for 14% or 1.7 million of us.
The latest House Price Review will be released by Nationwide tomorrow.
Jewson owner to cut 1,100 jobs in the UK
Building materials group Saint Gobain has announced that it will cut 4,000 jobs worldwide, including 1,100 in the UK. Saint Gobain, whose network includes builders merchants Jewson and plumbers merchants Graham announced that 1,100 of the losses would be in the United Kingdom, reducing the size of the UK workforce by 6%.
The building distribution sector saw sales increase by 5.4% in the first 2 quarters of 2008 but with demand on the wane, particularly in the UK and Spain, the job losses were necessary "to ensure that all our businesses can remain competitive, healthy and sustainable in the long-term" according to a company spokesperson.
For the latest news on builders merchants and their suppliers, visit The Builders Merchant's Journal.
"Save our jobs" says Scottish home builder
One of the leading Scottish home builders, Homes for Scotland, was called for action from the Scottish parliament as it faces the highest volume of job losses "since Ravenscraig in 1992." Chief executive for the Edinburgh-based form, Jonathan Fair was quoted in the Scotsman saying: "New-build starts in Scotland were down by almost 50 per cent in the last quarter, a trend which has already resulted in up to 15,000 redundancies. A support package which is appropriate to the scale of this crisis is urgently required."
Need a reliable builder in Edinburgh? Visit the ProblemSolved directory.
Painter cops fine for smoking in his own van
It was reported today in the Times (ironically under "Crime News") that Gordon Williams, 58, a painter and decorator from Llanafan in Wales has been fined £30 for smoking in his van. Council officials handed Mr Williams an on-the-spot fine having deemed the vehicle "a place of work."
Mr Williams was dumbfounded by the fine, disputing that the van could be deemed a place of work and underlining that he used the van for commuting and personal use with the telling words: "I paint houses, not vans."
Here at ProblemSolved, we're right behind you Gord - it's hard enough out there without council jobsworths sticking their money-grabbing oar in.
Woes continue for Rentokil
Shares in Rentokil Initial fell a further nearly 5% this morning to a 52 week low of 67.25 this morning as the fallout from last week's revised profit forcast continued to cast a gloomy cloud over the service company. It's bad news for investors, who saw prices tumble by 30% after last week's announcement that profits were likely to be more 20% lower than previously forecast amidst difficult trading conditions.
Chief exec Alan Brown said that the problems related to "serious operational issues in the UK."
Need a reliable, local pest controller, search the ProblemSolved directory.
Londoners ask but don't get
According to a report from Rightmove, properties in London are staying on the market longer than ever before as vendors in the capital cling on to the vain hope that the value of their home will hold up in the current slump. Rightmove's commercial director Miles Shipside cited an uncharacteristicly sluggish Spring for the stagnant state of play.
It now takes an average of 85 days to sell a property in London, up from 76 days in June.
Are you looking to add value in London? Choose from one of our reliable local builders...
Gazumping, Gazundering and now Gadumping...
In a report today in the Daily Mail, it was announced that house buyers pulling out of deals has increased to 4 in 10 as more and more buyers are failing to secure finance or losing their nerve. And as it's been at least 12 hours since someone tried to get a new property term into the lingo, it's high time we took the baton - let's face it, we can't do any worse than Rightmove's "Brickor Mortis."
After Gazumping (raising a price after agreeing a lower one) and Gazundering (dropping the price after agreeing a higher one), it's time to raise a glass to Gadumping - and be sure to use it wherever you can. If we work together, it'll be a Countdown conundrum by Christmas....
For the blaggers guide to using a tradesperson, check out our Jargon Buster...
Floors 2 Go into administration
Following hot on the heels of New Heights and Ilva, wood and laminate flooring retailer Floors 2 Go is the latest interiors company to enter administration with a loss of close to 100 jobs. A spokesperson for administrators Kroll cited tough retail conditions in the sector and falling house prices as catalysts to the recent downturn in sales.
The Kroll Press office has confirmed that the 41 stores are to be closed with immediate effect. For more information visit www.floors2go.co.uk or contact the Kroll press office on 0207 413 3232.
