Times are hard out there...Really?

Conrad

I'm in Hertfordshire and there is wealth a plenty in just about all locales I know of. I do a lot of business in Essex and there is this mass swathe of lets call them self employed market gardener / builder types who very typicaly have a large home and at least 1 or 2 other properties, rangerovers etc. The majority would show up in official stats as poor or just above as these are people adept at living thier own little way with as least contact with officialdum as possible.These are people who will never declare thier true wealth in a census as they instictively know to keep things quiet.


So one example is an Essex blonde with a salon, hubby does all sorts of things and owns a big static home site - very rough uneducated types but absolutely minted, and they are fairly typical.

I often think middle class politicians would just never come into contact with these types as these are not the sort to ever want to go to thier MP's suregery.
This is explains for me why so many leftist political types vastly underestimate true wealth out there. I just do not recognise the picture people like Will Self talk about but then I'd bet he does not have Essex roofers to his dinner parties. Such people take thier queues from official stats, but as I say these are totaly whack.


Try driving off the main roads even in somewhere like Barking and you will find endless very expensive large properties - and thats in a 'poor' area and the owners are often njst ordinary - one in the NHS, the other a black cabby.


Back in Hertfordshire, even though I make quite a high income (last yr about £120k) I really am in the bottom set in terms of wealth. Almost everyone I know / know of locally is mega rich. £10k for skiing (family of 4), 15K for summer hols, lots of other trips - most people spend £25k+ on holls alone.

dopester

Times are hard? Rubbish. 0.5% base rate and £250 Billion QE, and gammy asset BoE buying all cheated into the economy to save house prices mean most people still partying hard with lots of wonga to spend.

As the world watches Liverpool today, John Sutton reports on a record-breaker

ALL eyes were on Aintree today as the Grand National festival really hotted up.

A sell-out crowd, a £10m boost to the local economy and a forecast for the warmest day of the year so far was all adding up to a record-breaking triumph.

Last night tickets were changing hands on the internet for up to five times their face value as punters tried desperately to get in to see the 40 horses contest the world’s most famous steeplechase.

Girls allowed: Over the three days racegoers will consume 240,000 pints of beer in 80 public bars around the course and 8,000 bottles of Champagne

“With a record attendance over the three days, the benefits are shared across many leisure services including the hotels, bars, restaurants, shops and visitor attractions – so we anticipate the economic impact will be greater than last year’s £8.5m visitor spend.

http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/liverpool-news/local-news/2011/04/09/aintree-set-for-record-breaking-2011-grand-national-day-100252-28488959/

ukcarper

Thrugelmir wrote: »

Higher employee national insurance contributions and a freezing/lowering of the 40% tax threshold.

Someone on average wage will not be affected by 40% tax threshold and will pay £6.22 a year extra NIS.

doire_2

Conrad wrote: »

I'm in Hertfordshire and there is wealth a plenty in just about all locales I know of. I do a lot of business in Essex and there is this mass swathe of lets call them self employed market gardener / builder types who very typicaly have a large home and at least 1 or 2 other properties, rangerovers etc. The majority would show up in official stats as poor or just above as these are people adept at living thier own little way with as least contact with officialdum as possible.These are people who will never declare thier true wealth in a census as they instictively know to keep things quiet.


So one example is an Essex blonde with a salon, hubby does all sorts of things and owns a big static home site - very rough uneducated types but absolutely minted, and they are fairly typical.

I often think middle class politicians would just never come into contact with these types as these are not the sort to ever want to go to thier MP's suregery.
This is explains for me why so many leftist political types vastly underestimate true wealth out there. I just do not recognise the picture people like Will Self talk about but then I'd bet he does not have Essex roofers to his dinner parties. Such people take thier queues from official stats, but as I say these are totaly whack.


Try driving off the main roads even in somewhere like Barking and you will find endless very expensive large properties - and thats in a 'poor' area and the owners are often njst ordinary - one in the NHS, the other a black cabby.


Back in Hertfordshire, even though I make quite a high income (last yr about £120k) I really am in the bottom set in terms of wealth. Almost everyone I know / know of locally is mega rich. £10k for skiing (family of 4), 15K for summer hols, lots of other trips - most people spend £25k+ on holls alone.

Well its a bit obvious times wont be hard for millionaires. For the average man in the street it is tough.

Conrad

doire wrote: »

Well its a bit obvious times wont be hard for millionaires. For the average man in the street it is tough.

Nope not millionaires, just ordinary folk - for most where I am (to include a radius around of about 100 miles), wealth a plenty and as I say even areas we might not associate with wealth, have tons of it - go take a drive around the back roads of chavvy old Romford - endless money

wherediditallgothen

Conrad wrote: »

Nope not millionaires, just ordinary folk - for most where I am (to include a radius around of about 100 miles), wealth a plenty and as I say even areas we might not associate with wealth, have tons of it - go take a drive around the back roads of chavvy old Romford - endless money

My fellow ordinary folk at Sandy Lane haven't noticed much in the way of hard times either.

pinkteapot

iandury wrote: »

Now i am a very privaleged bloke, and i am in a postion where business is good and i am able to draw a decent(not vulgar) wage.

iandury wrote: »

Now with hand on heart and from where i am sitting and watching with my own two eyes i have experienced very little pain or hard times, if it is happening i have not seen it.

It's a good time if you have money and want/need to spend it.

Have you not noticed all the discounts that shops are offering at the moment? Two weekends on the trot B&Q have offered across-the-store discounts (15% off last weekend, 20% off weekend just gone). This should be one of the peak times of year for B&Q as the weather improves and people start DIYing and gardening again.

I have several friends in various trades and their work has been very light for months now.

We're thinking about getting a fitted bedroom. In 2005, when the housing market was zooming, my mum used Hammonds for one. She phoned them up and couldn't get a design appointment for three weeks. I ordered a catalogue last month and had a phone call 6 minutes after filling in the online form for it offering me a design visit the following day. Since I received the catalogue I've had 20-30 missed calls (I know their number now) from them! !!!!!!? Stalker territory. I'll call them if we decide to go ahead and want a quote and design done.

People seem to be more cautious about making large purchases and particularly when it comes to home improvements. Excellent time to negotiate discounts. :money:

shortchanged_2

Conrad wrote: »

Nope not millionaires, just ordinary folk - for most where I am (to include a radius around of about 100 miles), wealth a plenty and as I say even areas we might not associate with wealth, have tons of it - go take a drive around the back roads of chavvy old Romford - endless money

Come on Conrad we all know that South East may as well be a seperate country from the rest of the UK.

The South East is so out of touch with the rest of the UK. When we talk about devolution I think we can say that the South East is well devolved from the rest of the UK.

doire_2

Conrad wrote: »

Nope not millionaires, just ordinary folk - for most where I am (to include a radius around of about 100 miles), wealth a plenty and as I say even areas we might not associate with wealth, have tons of it - go take a drive around the back roads of chavvy old Romford - endless money

Ordinary people? Poeple who speand 25k a year on holidays? People with 3 homes and range rovers. Yeap....very ordinary

Conrad

Plenty of ordinary folk find themselves sitting on expensive assets like this in a farily average London / Essex border area, just a bog standard sort of place.


5 bedroom detached house for sale Upminster

£999,995



I was in West London recently - again just fairly standard places like Stanmore (only 1 of many areas we went though) where ordinary working folk sit on high priced assets.

We were in the Farnborough area last year and again masses of expensive property for many miles around in all directions.

You can drive from Radlet though Barnet, Cockfosters, Potters Bar out into endless expensive villages all the way to Cambridge nearly - just one trip where you will see never ending expensively priced property with flash cars on the drives.

Just everyday run of the mill Herts areas like Brookmans park, by no means a 'best' area, you will get;


6 bedroom detached house for sale BROOKMANS AVENUE, BROOKMANS PARK, HERTS

£1,995,000





Then there's virtualy the whole of Surrey, Bucks, Berks etc, then accross to the Cotswolds, Oxfordshire, Bath area, up to Worcester - wealth just everywhere