Daily Express today

cant get out today - can anyone fill me in on the story behind the
Express headlines today about the government being allowed to steal our
homes please?
TIA

Re: Daily Express today

> cant get out today - can anyone fill me in on the story behind the
> Express headlines today about the government being allowed to steal our
> homes please?

Is that the one the Mail revealed about a month ago, where a house left
vacant can be seized by councils and rented out ?

Re: Daily Express today

"From the UK" <> wrote in message
news:
> cant get out today - can anyone fill me in on the story behind the Express
> headlines today about the government being allowed to steal our homes
> please?
> TIA

If a property is left vacant for 6 months then the local council can
'reclaim' it i.e.. steal it from you. Utter madness.

The PM is exempt from this. He has several homes that are not lived in for 6
months at a time so as it would clearly effect him he is exempt from it. And
we voted for this?

---
Sam

Re: Daily Express today

Sam Smith wrote:
> "From the UK" <> wrote in message
> news:
>> cant get out today - can anyone fill me in on the story behind the
>> Express headlines today about the government being allowed to steal
>> our homes please?
>> TIA
>
> If a property is left vacant for 6 months then the local council can
> 'reclaim' it i.e.. steal it from you. Utter madness.

Only if there are no plans or intentions for them, and if discussions
between owner and council come to nothing. And in the end ownership does
not change hands - though it would then be difficult for the owner if they
thought of a use and had to empty the property.

>
> The PM is exempt from this. He has several homes that are not lived
> in for 6 months at a time so as it would clearly effect him he is
> exempt from it. And we voted for this?
>
But he probably has plans and intentions for them. Not a great fan but I
don't think he is getting that much special treatment. Perhaps he needs
them in case his friends who lend him holiday homes get evicted and need
somewhere to stay.

Re: Daily Express today

The provisions proposed are not nearly as horrid as the Daily Excess
suggests.

Landlords/owners who willfully leave property empty for a long time can
be called to book.

After a prolonged period of un-occupancy the Local Authority may get a
7 year lease to let the property. Holiday homes. property being
renovated, held while probate is sorted etc. are exempt.

The very few owners who get caught (who will have themselves to blame
by not seeking exemption by means of refurbishment etc) will not lose
title but will have to accept the LA's rental from the 7 year lease.
Since the property must have been empty and not paying anything then
this isn't exactly a penalty.

Not quite as draconian as the Daily Excess suggested.

THe DE must have had a slow day and stuffed for news having not been
able to invent a new Lady Di conspiracy theory that day which caused
them to print this scary stuff.

EP

Re: Daily Express today

"edwin" wrote
> Landlords/owners who willfully leave property
> empty for a long time can be called to book.

"Called to book"? You make it sound like there's
something wrong with leaving a property empty for a while!

"edwin" wrote
> After a prolonged period of un-occupancy the
> Local Authority may get a 7 year lease to let the
> property. Holiday homes. property being renovated,
> held while probate is sorted etc. are exempt.
>
> The very few owners who get caught (who
> will have themselves to blame by not seeking
> exemption by means of refurbishment etc) ...

Being forced to go about refurbishing a property just so
you are able to sell it within the next 7 years is hardy trivial.

"edwin" wrote
> ... will not lose title ...

So what? They'd lose the ability to sell easily
within the next 7 years, which maybe just as bad...

"edwin" wrote
> ... but will have to accept the LA's rental from the 7 year lease.

Will the owner have any say in the calibre of tenant?
Will the LA pay any higher insurance premiums?
Will the LA do all the management (collecting rent, getting gas certificates
etc etc)?

"edwin" wrote
> Since the property must have been empty and not
> paying anything then this isn't exactly a penalty.

Of course it is!
If you had some money in a low-interest bank account, which
you just hadn't got around to moving to a higher interest paying
a/c, and you knew you needed the money within the next year
or two, then would you be happy if someone came along
and moved it into a slightly higher-paying interest a/c but
locked it up for 7 years? What would you do when you
come to need the money, say in another six months' time?

Re: Daily Express today

Key word is "HOME".

Nobody's home is under threat, since a home is where one lives, at
least for a goodly proportion of the time. (Yes, there are other
definitions, too!)

The provisions are clear: the proposal is about properties that have
been abandoned, hoping nobody notices, with either no plans whatsoever
or so some half-formed, "I'll come back to it in 5-10 years".

It ain't about homes.

Anyone who saw the word "Homes" in a Daily Excess headline will now
have come to their senses,

"That won't be right, if it's in the Daily Excess,
it can't really be about real homes, like we know. can it?" .....

Of course not.

Keep on making up stuff about Lady Di, as well ... that's fiction, too

Re: Daily Express today

"edwin" wrote
> Key word is "HOME".

Define "home"...?

"edwin" wrote
> Nobody's home is under threat, since
> a home is where one lives, at least for
> a goodly proportion of the time...

And what about properties other than
"homes" - as I discussed in my earlier post?

"edwin" wrote
> The provisions are clear: the proposal
> is about properties that have been
> abandoned, hoping nobody notices, ...

So, if the owner doesn't care whether anyone
notices, the property will be exempt - will it?

"edwin" wrote
> ... with either no plans whatsoever or so some
> half-formed, "I'll come back to it in 5-10 years".

Why should an owner need to have concrete
plans in order to continue enjoying an asset?

Re: Daily Express today

I think the shocking thing about all this is people are still reading the
Daily Express.

What is the world coming to?