20 Apr 2014 5:22 PM:

Very interesting figures.

Russians buying more Spanish properties than Germans and China buying more than the Dutch.  How the world economic order has changed.  I'm not really surprised about Russia as when I was looking for a front line beachside holiday apartment to rent last year almost all contact names were Russian.  The Chinese are buying up London and the Russian oligarths own many really expensive London properties.  How times have changed!

Thread: 3.4 million empty homes....where are they?

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10 Mar 2014 9:31 PM:

In the UK, sellers and buyers rarely meet unless the estate agent leaves the viewings to the sellers. Nowadays estate agents carry out most of the viewings and all the legal stuff is done by conveyancing solicitors.  It is the Spanish corrupt system that allowed the English estate agents to get £30k more from the buyers than was paid to the seller. I wonder if any foreigh buyers of expensive London properties under report the selling price in order to reduce taxes.   After reading this topic I'm so glad I never bought property in Spain.  The homes I bought in the UK were not in such a high price bracket to attract any corrupt practices.

Caveat emptor or something like that.

Thread: PROPERTY TAX BILL APPEAL ANY USE!?

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29 Jun 2013 6:32 PM:

If the police pay 11% towards their pension that is quite high, but how much does the Government as their employer contribute, I hope it's not the same amount.

Thread: Winter Fuel Allowance

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29 Jun 2013 4:59 PM:

http://www.change.org/en-GB/petitions/department-for-work-and-pensions-we-urge-the-uk-government-to-bring-uk-state-pensions-in-line-with-europe#share

The same pensioner activist has started a campaign on Change.org and I have posted the link above for anyone who is interested.  Most petitions I sign are from this website but the Government one is more powerful - if you get enough signatures.  No harm in signing both.

When I signed this petition, I suggested in the comments that Cameron pays more per week for his drycleaning than the £110 per week in basic state pension.  Perhaps some of you could come up with other examples.

 

 

 

 

 

Thread: Winter Fuel Allowance

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29 Jun 2013 4:17 PM:

http://epetitions.direct.gov.uk/petitions/51449

The above petition refers to an EU Summit that discussed the state pension levels in the EU and the aim to reach a level of 40% of their median wages as their basic state pension by 2007 and thereafter work towards 60%.

Our median wage is something like £26,500, so 40% would mean a pension of £10,600, almost double our maximum basic state pension, I'm sure we would all be happy with that, we're not greedy.

You will notice the position of Greece and Spain on the list, obviously getting almost the same state pension as workers get in wages is not sustainable, but reaching 40% would be a conservative aim.  We would then be in a similar position to France and Germany.

 

PS.  I think the median wage is also very low, so who is getting all the money?

 

 

This message was last edited by Patdean on 29/06/2013.

 

This message was last edited by Patdean on 29/06/2013.
Thread: Winter Fuel Allowance

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