Not Building The Future

One of the UK's biggest social problems is housing its burgeoning population. The full scale of immigration (both from within and outside of the European Union), has been at least partly buried by successive governments.

This was for different reasons, with Labour trying to hide the massive impacts on white British communities, and the Tories trying to hide the fact that they had not regained control of our borders as promised .... these deceptions will all be uncovered before the EU referendum, when the current government publishes details of why the Office of National Statistics consistently shows a level of immigration, which is only one third of the annual issue of National Insurance Numbers (a number without which you can't legally work in the UK).

However even without the undoubted large scale fraud surrounding these numbers (as we have no national ID scheme), its fairly obvious that there is a problem with the large size of the discrepancy. But more of that in a future post ...... But whatever the reason, the fact is that house prices and availability of housing has not kept pace with the numbers of those seeking to buy their own home.

There are of course a number of factors involved with this:

• The recession since 2008, which has kept income inflation far lower than house price inflation.
• The reluctance of many to buy houses in certain areas (a colleague of mine in his late 20's wants his first home in an expensive area of a major city, so is still saving 'a deposit' even though he gets a lot more than the local average salary).
• The affordability of new or existing houses for new buyers.

Recent figures produced by Lloyds Bank Research suggest that this last issue affordability, rather than actual supply, is the biggest driver of the inability to get on the housing ladder, and the reversal of the trend for home ownership. These figures suggest that the average city property, is 6.6 times higher than the average local salary and this gap is rising (it was 6.2 last year) ... a rise of 8% in property prices .... and therein lies the problem.

The First Step On The Housing Ladder
Was Easier A Few Decades Ago .....

Booze Cruise

Beware that booze when your on holiday with your partner ... there's nearly always one row and these can lead to strange events.

I had at least three public bust ups with my lady friends (actually now I come to think on it, it was actually all the same woman .... hmm that may explain the 'ex' nature of that relationship), immediately prior to, or while on holiday. On all occasions, we patched it up and proceeded on our way without too much damage at the time ... although cumulatively it may have had an effect.

Booze Cruising Always Risks Relationship Problems ..... Although Not Always With Your Partner

One Bjorn Every Minute

There is always one story that just makes you laugh ....

Croatia is one the edge of Europe's 'wild west', the Balkans. Therefore its always a case of 'buyer beware' when you enter that region as the laws may not always be what you expect .... they also often kind of favour the locals!

So I wasn't surprised but was amused when I read the tale of two Norwegian tourists (whom I am guessing were males), who came a cropper in the murkier backwaters of that land.

Oldest Bar Scam In The World?

Death In Paradise

Sometimes a story requires no comment, and others require utter condemnation. Occasionally one just shocks beyond comprehension.

In the United Arab Emirates, Arab women are allowed to swim in the sea, as long as they are suitably covered up in an Islamic swimsuit. As you might guess this is often a very conservative and cumbersome covering, which can make swimming difficult, but not impossible (just so that Westerners can't criticise the Muslim treatment of women).

Still A Hundred Years Behind In Clothes ... Or Maybe Fourteen Hundred Years In Attitudes

German Culture Breaking Down

There has been much play in the UK press, over a story that Germany has introduced women only rail carriages, ostensibly as a direct response to the influx of men from the Islamic world, and the sex attacks in Cologne. This however has been denied by the Mitteldeutsche Regiobahn, train operator, who said that the measures were intended to 'encourage a safer atmosphere for all female travellers in general'.

Yeah, right.

The New Germany Has A Special Place For Women On Trains