Some of you are vultures

Broken_hearted

fiveyearplan wrote: »

As for tradesmen making the kind of money you are talking about - it is supply and demand. If you don't want to pay that kind of money learn to do it yourself.

You can't, years ago you could do just about any work you wanted yourself.Now there are laws rules and regulations stopping you.

neas

the justification for this thread was a 'im hard done by dont et happy its a recession because my husband lost job and we are stuggling'

Yet we later find out ... they had a lot of extra disposable income coming in far more than most of us seemed to have the past 5-10 years....

Would you feel sorry for the wilsons because its a recession and they went bankrupt and had no pension? Even tho they'd mewed and gambled? I know its an extreme example... but common sense isnt something which can be taught.

And i cant understand how trademen get paid so well... most join a building company at 16.. sure its physical labour but its not rocket science.

DirectDebacle

caveman38 wrote: »

For a start the argument is that the plumbers / gas fitters in the SE charged more than £200 a day. Two hours ago you dismissed the idea as nonsense on the basis of the web site you quoted.
Now you concede that perhaps they do earn £48K a year (although we maintain it is far above that) but when you take away stoppages they would clear a lot less.
Well it might surprise you but we all pay NI, IR and commute to work and pay fares. The difference is we don't have the good fortune of having a good percentage as paid in hand which avoids stoppages.
Your argument will not wash.

My original post was to question the claims on here that plumbers earned £75-£90k p.a. and merely provided a link to O.N.S. figures compiled to show average earnings.

In Chigwell £200 a day x 48 x 5 day wks may well = £75k -£90k p.a. Perhaps the mathematics in your area contributes to your feelings of being ripped off.

They don't earn £48k they turnover £48k (£75k in Chigwellandspeak).

Now you say they don't pay tax or insurance and imply they are all working illegally.

I would find living in Chigwell quite confusing. The maths wouldn't make sense and I'd have to keep dodging moving goalposts.:D

fiveyearplan

Broken_hearted wrote: »

You can't, years ago you could do just about any work you wanted yourself.Now there are laws rules and regulations stopping you.

Hi BH

There is still a lot of DIY stuff that you can do and if you can't then you have to pay a tradesman to do it. Its still supply and demand - they wouldn't command such high prices if there were more of them ie look what happened with the huge influx of Polish workmen.

fiveyearplan

neas wrote: »

the justification for this thread was a 'im hard done by dont et happy its a recession because my husband lost job and we are stuggling'

Yet we later find out ... they had a lot of extra disposable income coming in far more than most of us seemed to have the past 5-10 years....

Would you feel sorry for the wilsons because its a recession and they went bankrupt and had no pension? Even tho they'd mewed and gambled? I know its an extreme example... but common sense isnt something which can be taught.

And i cant understand how trademen get paid so well... most join a building company at 16.. sure its physical labour but its not rocket science.

If only we all had a crystal ball.....

tartanterra

neas wrote: »

And i cant understand how trademen get paid so well... most join a building company at 16.. sure its physical labour but its not rocket science.

Tell you what......next time you need some plastering, electrics or roofing done, why don't you get round some of those "graduates" your always rattling on about. It'll give them a few quid in their pocket and save you a fortune........I imagine building control would be over the moon about it as well.........:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

neas

indeed... next time you drive a car, type away at your pc... use software, take public transport.

Thank an engineer... can a plasterer ever do that? Most probably not... takes a certain intellect to be a scientist.. not every tom !!!!!! and harry can do it... sure not every tom !!!!!! and harry can be plasterers... but im sure a damn sight more can be plasterers than engineers..

But your prob right... i guess it takes a real talented intelligent cream of evolution person to be a plastere... and thats why he gets paid more?

Yerrr right..

IveSeenTheLight

neverdespairgirl wrote: »

High house prices, and rapid HPI, are a social evil, in my view. HPI tends to transfer wealth from younger generations to older ones, and it drastically lowers everyone's standards of living as they pay through the nose for a roof over their heads.

I find it interesting when people refer to our standard of living and the cost of buying a home.

The UK is a very privaledged society indeed in many ways when you consider the standard of living.

There are many people throughout the world that would love to have these problems and the ability to pay through their nose for the standard of living we have.

Last year I went to Cambodia, where there is a floating village near Siem Reap where their standard of living was one of the poorest I have seen, yet they all seemed to be very happy people.

Its a very humbing experience seeing people live in far worse conditions to oneself and makes you realise just how lucky we really are

As an example, see some of the pictures below of the colour of the water. They wash, defecate, urinate, prepare food etc all in that water, yet their smiles are as wide as I've seen anywhere

dopester

115K wrote: »

I think the OP was just trying to make the point that some people are finding things very tough at the minute and some people on this forum are being unsympathetic towards them.

Tough. This section is predominately for discussion about house prices - with the economy discussion playing in to that.

The OP might not like what we discuss, but it is no reason to start a thread slagging us off.

Her own circumstances seem ridiculous in the extreme. If she is living like that now, whilst working herself and also married to a plumber, (no money, no heating, no washing machine, no tumble-drier, old beat up cars, no Christmas presents), in a run down house, having benefited from HPI for years on top - then that is their own making.

mewbie_2

Septic tank problems this morning, finally got a plumber to look at it. He brought his mates, its apparently a three man job. They stood round looking at it, and I was bending down using my 'pooh stick' to show them the extent of the failure. We were discussing potential cost while I was doing this. Then I looked up, and the way they were highlighted against the sky - they looked like vultures the lot of them.