The rental trap

Jimmy_31

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

And I thought your primary recommendation was a quick passport check? What should I do if people recommend a Polish builder to me?

Check his cscs card is up to date.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

Check his cscs card is up to date.

If he comes with a good recommendation, I don't think I'll bother. I'd take a tradesman on recommendation without SCSC over an unknown tradesman with SCSC any day.

Jimmy_31

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

If he comes with a good recommendation, I don't think I'll bother. I'd take a tradesman on recommendation without SCSC over an unknown tradesman with SCSC any day.

Thats fine as long as you are happy with the reason they give you for not having a cscs card, a cscs card is a requirement to be allowed to set foot on a building site, it proves that you are qualified to do the job and also proves that you have passed all the health and safety requirements to do the job. If more people asked to see proof of qualifications when getting tradesman into their homes to give quotes for work then a lot more people wouldnt get ripped off.

I think the best way to find a good tradesman is by using a recommendation given to you by a friend and also when this tradesman turns up then i would also check that he has all the correct qualifications required to do the job.

Its cscs and not scsc by the way, sorry to be a bit picky.

Wee_Willy_Harris

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

Thats fine as long as you are happy with the reason they give you for not having a cscs card, a cscs card is a requirement to be allowed to set foot on a building site, it proves that you are qualified to do the job and also proves that you have passed all the health and safety requirements to do the job. If more people asked to see proof of qualifications when getting tradesman into their homes to give quotes for work then a lot more people wouldnt get ripped off.

I think the best way to find a good tradesman is by using a recommendation given to you by a friend and also when this tradesman turns up then i would also check that he has all the correct qualifications required to do the job.

Its cscs and not scsc by the way, sorry to be a bit picky.

From what you said earlier, the right qualification can be gained with just a couple of weeks study. As I said, I'll take the personal recommendation ahead of any paperwork.

Spartacus_Mills

julieq wrote: »

You ought maybe to have one of the bears explain to you why the removal of what they term "lax lending" is a benefit for you.

I am neither bull nor bear but personally I do not care whether removing of lax lending benefits the OP or not I care that it ensures, or minimises the risk of having the same sort of catastrophe in the banking system as before.

PasturesNew

Cleaver wrote: »

I don't know if I agree. I know the traditional model of the night school may have gone, but there are plenty of education courses out there for people through colleges or institutions like the OU. And they aren't always that expensive either.

My wife left school at 15 but has recently been doing her qualifications as an adult, and I was surprised how relatively cheap it was to do A Levels through a local college in the evenings. I know degrees are obviously more expensive, as she now has her beady eye on one.

My local college does no A levels... and I couldn't do A level Maths anywhere in the county. It'd be a 200 mile round trip probably, for a 2 hour lesson once a week.

The OU is OK if you're settled. I've never felt I'll be in any one place long enough to finish off what I started with them - it also was very very expensive. It looks like, now, I'd qualify for a free course - but that requires planning months in advance and being in a particular place; I certainly couldn't study here.

Maybe it's a geographical thing, bugg4h all down this way.

The OU takes a minimum of 6 years to do a degree ... long time to wait.

Jimmy_31

Wee_Willy_Harris wrote: »

From what you said earlier, the right qualification can be gained with just a couple of weeks study. As I said, I'll take the personal recommendation ahead of any paperwork.

And like i have said, the cscs card will show you the qualifications that the person holds.

The fortnight course enables a person to become a "skilled worker" and this is what will be shown on the card, this is the absolute bare minimum somebody needs to get on site.

Personally if i was checking somebodys credentials due to needing work done then i would be more inclined to go with somebody who holds a card that says NVQ2,NVQ3 (in whatever trade), Time served indentured apprentice, Advanced Craft, than to choose somebody who has skilled worker written on their card, along with a recommendation from a friend on top of that then this is the person i would choose.

Cleaver

PasturesNew wrote: »

My local college does no A levels... and I couldn't do A level Maths anywhere in the county. It'd be a 200 mile round trip probably, for a 2 hour lesson once a week.

I think a lot of colleges and education providers now do distance and online learning because of the advent of the internet. I've just done a search for A Level maths and there are loads of places offering it via distance learning, some of which do their lectures online so you can learn from your lounge. Prices seemed reasonable too.

PasturesNew wrote: »

The OU is OK if you're settled. I've never felt I'll be in any one place long enough to finish off what I started with them - it also was very very expensive. It looks like, now, I'd qualify for a free course - but that requires planning months in advance and being in a particular place; I certainly couldn't study here.

Maybe it's a geographical thing, bugg4h all down this way.

The OU takes a minimum of 6 years to do a degree ... long time to wait.

With all due respect Pastures, you always seem to find the reasons to not do something rather than the reasons to do something...

ali-t

Cleaver wrote: »

I think a lot of colleges and education providers now do distance and online learning because of the advent of the internet. I've just done a search for A Level maths and there are loads of places offering it via distance learning, some of which do their lectures online so you can learn from your lounge. Prices seemed reasonable too.

Totally agree with you Cleaver. The majority of courses are now distance learning and although for some you have to attend an institution for a short block of study e.g. 1 week, the rest is distance learning and conducted online.

I am currently back studying at postgrad level and could have done the whole course distance learning if I had chosen particular modules.

diable

Jimmy_31 wrote: »

I have seen immigrant familys move onto the estate i live on and get their keys to their new house that has just been decorated throughout and had new fitted carpets in every room, then the van turns up with their new furniture that the government provides for them which consists of beds,matresses,bedding,wardrobes,chest of drawers,dining table and chairs,3 piece suite,curtains,fridge,cooker,washing machine and other things that i cant quite remember at the moment. All this is provided at no cost to the new tenannts.

Fast forward a few days and skytv will be fitted and then comes the big dish for getting the channels that skytv doesnt broadcast, you may have seen these dishes because they are very big, so once the dish is bolted to the house the family is now all set to sit down and relax.

Familys like this are dotted around my estate and have lived here now for a few years and i presume they are getting benefits because none of them are working so are somehow managing to feed and clothe themselves.

Its a strange sight to see when one of these new familys turn up and the british scroungers on my estate who have never once had a job start sla66ing them off once they see all the free furniture turn up, you can generally hear things like why the f**k should they get all this stuff when we get nothing. a free house and benefits is apparently not enough for the british scroungers on my estate as they now want some free curtains as well

Jealousy is an evil thing,

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r_dhDaskefI&feature=related