General News Thread

[Leicester_Loyal]

Landlords will just become companies and corporations, rather than your average bloke from down the street. 
 

We need more social housing and we need homes built fast, but when you’re importing hundreds of thousands of people each year, you’re swimming against the tide. 
 

Not all landlords are bad, and not all tenants are perfect. I’ve seen a good honest bloke move in with their partner, rent their house out for 12 months to get screwed over for 15k+ due to tenants refusing to pay or leave. 

[Robo61]

9 hours ago, JonnyBoy said:

It won’t. Will mean landlords will sell up due to renters rights bill and more power to the renter, the supply falls, demand increases and prices rise for the renter. 

That is not how the housing market works. You cannot look at renting in isolation to home ownership.  Landlords sell up,  house prices drop,  those that were renting buy,  demand for renting reduces.  

[DennisNedry]

I like Mahmoud.

 

It's nice to see a minister taking practical steps (and learning from other countries - Denmark model), rather than just posturing.

[JonnyBoy]

9 hours ago, CornwallFox said:

Good news, let's hope landlords stop buying them. 

My mate sold that kind of house on the edge of the city a few years ago. Wanted to sell to a first time buyer of he could. Estate agent basically said it would be impossible because landlords would immediately outbid the first time buyers. They were proven right. 

Landlordism has wrecked the housing market. We have nearly 3 million landlords. 3 million. That's millions of homes first time buyers couldn't buy. And also millions of additional buyers causing prices to increase. 

Not interested in fictional story time, I have just proven there are 500 odd within 10 miles of Leicester that are first time buyer houses? They aren’t getting snapped up by landlords. so, I’ll ask an again.. how are landlords stopping first time buyers? 
 

we have had to up the rent price for our rental due to the last tenant wrecking the house causing thousands of pounds worth of damage, but landlords are the problem remember.. 

[JonnyBoy]

37 minutes ago, Robo61 said:

That is not how the housing market works. You cannot look at renting in isolation to home ownership.  Landlords sell up,  house prices drop,  those that were renting buy,  demand for renting reduces.  

Incorrect, the house prices won’t fall, even if they did would be marginal and still price out some first time buyers 

Edited 15 November 2025 by JonnyBoy

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

Incorrect, the house prices won’t fall, even if they did would be marginal and still price out some first time buyers 

Let's take this as read...then what is the solution?

 

I can certainly believe @Leicester_Loyal remarks about smaller landlords being replaced by the bigger corpo ones, and that's not good at all, but the market certainly seems inflated enough for far too many people to be priced out in terms of buying as well. 

 

So, what's the way forward that might help with that inequality? Honestly don't know here. 

[CornwallFox]

9 hours ago, WigstonWanderer said:

There’s been a great deal of discussion here about the UK economy, and the view that government debt is like the nation’s credit card is mostly taken for granted. This has lead in the past to austerity and currently constrains spending as UK infrastructure decays, a downward spiral.

 

There are a minority of economists who offer an entirely different perspective in the form of Modern Monetary Theory (MMT). I don’t claim to understand it, but it seems to offer far more flexibility in the spend/debt/growth equation for economies with their own fiat currency, subject to the constraint of inflation not getting out of hand.

 

Is there anyone here that has sufficient expertise in this branch of economics that could comment?

Not expertise but I have read up on it quite a bit. 

The starting point is understanding that money and debt are the same thing. 

Money is only created in two ways: either a central bank creates additional money (and when that money is sent into the economy it becomes a government debt as something has been given out and is repaid when returned), or it's created by banks (who are licensed to literally create money when they lend, they don't have to actually have the money) when borrowed by people or businesses. Again that creates a debt. So all money creates a debt. And so all money is either government debt or private debt. And to grow the economy, more money must be created. Which means government debt and/or private debt must increase, because money doesn't grow on trees, it must be created through creation of debt. 

 

Next tax. MMT says that governments with a fiat currency cannot run out of money, they can always create more money, but inflation is an issue - nobody wants a loaf of bread to cost a trillion pounds, so tax is used to dampen the effect of new money entering the economy, which is inflationary. Tax doesn't fund the government. Tax doesn't go into a special fund that's used to pay for things, it just gets removed from the economy. The government simply creates the money it spends and tax is an anti-inflationary device. Where taxation falls in the economy, and therefore where wealth is allowed to accrue, is an entirely political decision. 

 

There's lots of other aspects, including around why national debt isn't necessarily a bad thing, but that's the starting point. 

It's worth watching some Richard Murphy videos on YouTube who is an MMT advocate. 

Edited 15 November 2025 by CornwallFox

[JonnyBoy]

10 minutes ago, leicsmac said:

Let's take this as read...then what is the solution?

 

I can certainly believe @Leicester_Loyal remarks about smaller landlords being replaced by the bigger corpo ones, and that's not good at all, but the market certainly seems inflated enough for far too many people to be priced out in terms of buying as well. 

 

So, what's the way forward that might help with that inequality? Honestly don't know here. 

there are two groups of fist time buyers (maybe more):

 

group 1: can afford it with hard saving, often chose to spend it on holidays, car or finance, eating out, beers up with the lads and want the 3 bed new build as their first house for the gram. I had a moderate salary when I bought my first house - a small terrace. Saved like crazy, sacrificed the above and took a few years to get there. 
 

group 2: genuinely can’t afford to buy, if they have the option to live at home do so and save up. If not, can you do spare room and flat/house share? I did that for a period of time. If not, rent with someone else which will halve the rent/bills.

 

government can help by increasing amount you can borrow but still cap to 35 years. The new thing that’s come about in America for 50 years mortgage is silly - be balls deep  paying mega interest for your whole life. 

 

is there a third group I am missing? 

[CornwallFox]

2 minutes ago, JonnyBoy said:

there are two groups of fist time buyers (maybe more):

 

group 1: can afford it with hard saving, often chose to spend it on holidays, car or finance, eating out, beers up with the lads and want the 3 bed new build as their first house for the gram. I had a moderate salary when I bought my first house - a small terrace. Saved like crazy, sacrificed the above and took a few years to get there. 
 

group 2: genuinely can’t afford to buy, if they have the option to live at home do so and save up. If not, can you do spare room and flat/house share? I did that for a period of time. If not, rent with someone else which will halve the rent/bills.

 

government can help by increasing amount you can borrow but still cap to 35 years. The new thing that’s come about in America for 50 years mortgage is silly - be balls deep  paying mega interest for your whole life. 

 

is there a third group I am missing? 

Apparently anybody normal that could buy if landlords weren't. You seem to have a very dim view of people looking to buy. Do you mind me asking so we understand where you're coming from: are you a landlord yourself? 

[foxes1988]

More Reform councillors suspended.  These guys are supposed to be the 'only option' left.

 

So we're either going to end up with a load of incompetent reform MPs that don't want to work and/or Tory defects as reform mps that are somehow an 'alternative' to the Tories

 

https://www.kentonline.co.uk/kent/news/two-more-suspended-reform-uk-county-councillors-booted-out-o-332607/

 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, JonnyBoy said:

there are two groups of fist time buyers (maybe more):

 

group 1: can afford it with hard saving, often chose to spend it on holidays, car or finance, eating out, beers up with the lads and want the 3 bed new build as their first house for the gram. I had a moderate salary when I bought my first house - a small terrace. Saved like crazy, sacrificed the above and took a few years to get there. 
 

group 2: genuinely can’t afford to buy, if they have the option to live at home do so and save up. If not, can you do spare room and flat/house share? I did that for a period of time. If not, rent with someone else which will halve the rent/bills.

 

government can help by increasing amount you can borrow but still cap to 35 years. The new thing that’s come about in America for 50 years mortgage is silly - be balls deep  paying mega interest for your whole life. 

 

is there a third group I am missing? 

Yes, the group that neither genuinely can afford to buy right now, and for reasons beyond their control, can take none of the options you suggest here. 

 

There's more of them than you might think, I reckon. 

 

I know that framing things like this purely in terms of personal responsibility feels good because, you know, "I did it so everyone else can and if they can't they're not trying hard enough" Just World Fallacy, but sometimes people do just need a bit of help - as, indeed, you do mention. 

[MC Prussian]

On 13/11/2025 at 18:44, leicsmac said:

Epstein stuff gathering pace again then. 

It's been made public before, with Virginia Giuffré's name unredacted. A year ago, if I'm not mistaken.

And she testified to Trump's innocence.

 

I just love the liberal media's Trump spin, it's become so predictable. Where were the calls for justice during the Biden or Obama presidency?

 

Wonder why it's gaining traction again during/towards the end of a shutdown?

 

Release the files.

Edited 15 November 2025 by MC Prussian

[Lionator]

Currently navigating the housing/mortgage system and I think the horse bolted a long time ago (30/40 years ago). Any interventions are purely plasters on a gaping, terminal wound. 

[Lionator]

Also, the same blighters a few weeks back putting up English flags are now celebrating the pedo president suing a great English and British institution. What an act of patriotism!!

[leicsmac]

4 minutes ago, MC Prussian said:

It's been made public before, with Virginia Giuffre's name unredacted. A year ago, if I'm not mistaken.

And she testified to Trump's innocence.

 

Wonder why it's gaining traction again during/towards the end of a shutdown?

 

Release the files.

There's more to this than just Giuffre, naturally. 

 

But yes, I agree, full disclosure please. I'm inclined to think that, given what he's said and done on the matter so far, that Trump was heavily involved (much more so than he's saying), but then a lot of other people will have been too. 

[leicsmac]

1 minute ago, Lionator said:

Also, the same blighters a few weeks back putting up English flags are now celebrating the pedo president suing a great English and British institution. What an act of patriotism!!

Yep, as said before, it's a bit weird. 

 

It's ethnonationalism, but clearly valuing the ethno over the nationalism as the movement itself appears rather international in structure. Rather different beast to what's come before. 

[bovril]

BBC patriotism is so weird though. I suppose if you like patronising, superficial documentaries about foreign countries or presenting patently false information in the name of 'impartiality' then it's great, but this worship of it is slightly North Korean. 

[leicsmac]

36 minutes ago, bovril said:

BBC patriotism is so weird though. I suppose if you like patronising, superficial documentaries about foreign countries or presenting patently false information in the name of 'impartiality' then it's great, but this worship of it is slightly North Korean. 

Can only speak for myself on this one, but for me it's a matter of looking at practically every other source of news (except for the dry, simple facts ones that only news nerds watch) and then imagining a world where the Beeb is no longer a factor and they have much more control over what they want "truth" to be... and then thinking, quite politely, no fvcking thank you. 

 

Edit: also, the nature documentaries alone make it worth it. 

Edited 15 November 2025 by leicsmac

[Zear0]

In what parallel universe have I stepped in that MTG is appearing the rationale one? 

[leicsmac]

6 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

In what parallel universe have I stepped in that MTG is appearing the rationale one? 

Was thinking this as well. 

 

Popular rumour says that she has a bone to pick with Trump regarding him not backing her for a higher office in her state, so she's taking retribution in this fashion. 

 

Unexpected, but useful in it's own way. 

[bovril]

20 minutes ago, Zear0 said:

In what parallel universe have I stepped in that MTG is appearing the rationale one? 

Thought that was a typo and you were talking about mtwg

[Zear0]

6 minutes ago, bovril said:

Thought that was a typo and you were talking about mtwg

Never get any sense out of him. 

[Trav Le Bleu]

1 hour ago, Zear0 said:

In what parallel universe have I stepped in that MTG is appearing the rationale one? 

Magic the Gathering?

[Leicester_Loyal]

1 hour ago, leicsmac said:

Can only speak for myself on this one, but for me it's a matter of looking at practically every other source of news (except for the dry, simple facts ones that only news nerds watch) and then imagining a world where the Beeb is no longer a factor and they have much more control over what they want "truth" to be... and then thinking, quite politely, no fvcking thank you. 

 

Edit: also, the nature documentaries alone make it worth it. 

The BBC are literally being sued for editing footage and misleading their audience 

[Zear0]

25 minutes ago, Trav Le Bleu said:

Magic the Gathering?

A thread I've never dared create on here for being exposed for the nerd I am.