Family facing homelessness ‘no idea where to turn’ due to soaring private rents and ‘lack of help’ for working tenants

74 Comments

1. I feel sorry for working people like this couple,this where locals should come first in line ,before people from other areas of the country ,moving to thane t and other areas in east kent

   • Locals do still come first in line. You have to prove you’ve been in Thanet for 5 years to qualify to go on the housing list. I know this because my mum lived in sheltered housing 200 miles away and as she was terminally ill I tried to get her moved to Thanet. Wasn’t possible as she had no proven link to Thanet (not enough that your children and grandchildren have been settled here their whole lives). I’m heartbroken for this couple though, it’s just the tip of the iceberg but highlights the plight of hundreds of families across Thanet. It reminds me of that Mike Leigh film “I, Daniel Blake”. People being forced into hardship and being made to beg for basic needs to be met.

     • Aye, all whilst the rich get richer and the poor blame other poor folk.

       It’s really sad what’s happening in this country.

       It’s only going to get worse the next few years. Even middle earners are going to be crushed into poverty.

2. There was a recent Radio 4 claim that Kent had something like 5,500 Airbnb which compared with something like 4,500 private lets. An article in the current Private Eye draws attention to this Airbnb scourge and various options under consideration – Wales and Cornwall are badly affected : indigenes reduced to living in caravans. Submissions were made to the TDC Strategic Planner suggesting an Airbnb policy locally was due for devising/tightening up (it’s a reasonable bet that as a des res resort Thanet may account for at least a 1,000 of those Kent Airbnbs ?) And of course we may expect that getting on for hyperinflation will ki-bosh much inappropriate ‘executive’ development and the chances of ever seeing the ‘30% affordables’ went out of the window (if it was ever realistically within the window,) Whether TDC is applying for ‘brownfield funds’ to redeploy large retail acres affected by the ‘online phenomenon’ is unknown but the SAGA site must be in principle ideal for social housing – within 5 minutes of surviving retail and thereby saving ‘air miles’ and greenfields in which more cabbages
   can be grown (should please the Exchequer) rather than the likes of Blue Circle ?

3. Rents are calculated according to the price of property prices . As Thanet is a hot spot for DFLs prices have dramatically increased. As a direct result rents have increased. Many landlords are fearful of the future due to imminent changes in EPC requirements and are selling up as they are also afraid of the Section 21 route being scrapped . Councils appear to be advising tenants to not make themselves homeless and stay until they are ordered by Court action to vacate . Sadly it is a disaster for renters and landlords and as the courts have massive backlogs neither have a bright future.

   • Here’s a list of changes that have pushed landlords into quitting (though it may need updating)
     1. S24 (disallowing of finance costs including mortgage interest)
     2. Additional 3% SDLT on property purchase
     3. Premium of 8% CGT when selling property
     4. Banning of letting agent fees
     5. Halving of lettings relief
     6. Prospective banning of ‘No DSS’ wording in adverts
     7. Promised banning of S21 notice
     8. Growing trend of councils charging hefty licence fees per property
     9. Changes to HMO regs including minimum room sizes
     10. Right to rent checks (now shown to be discriminatory and there is no guidance on how to deal with EU immigrants)
     11. Benefit tenants migrated to UC causing lengthy delays in rent payments and often substantial arrears
     12. Unable to get housing benefit paid direct unless history of bad money management
     13. Scrapping of Wear & Tear allowance
     14. Introduction of EPC minimum requirements (even on HMOs) which can be difficult to meet with older properties
     15. Unfit for human habitation legislation
     16. CO detectors must be fitted
     17. 100%+ council tax on properties being refurbished between tenancies. Not even the 25% single person discount
     18. Substantial increases in court costs for use of S8, thus making S21 more popular
     19. Membership of compulsory redress scheme for agents (and most likely for landlords soon)
     20. Limit on amount of deposit we’re allowed to take
     21. Rogue landlord database
     22. Proposed 3 year minimum tenancies though not sure what the value of this would be with the abolition of S21 (which has promised to be abolished)
     23. Some councils now charging council tax on HMO rooms
     24. 6 month notice periods
     25. Eviction moratorium, extended moratorium, Christmas moratorium
     26. EICR legislation that only applies to the PRS, apparently social tenants don’t need to be safe. Upto £30k fine if checks not done.
     27. Proposed EPC to be made C (up from E)
     28. Proposed legislation to force landlords to accept pets (but cannot take extra deposit)
     29. Having to consult with non-paying tenants in regard to giving them breathing space
     30. Form N5B (S21) has gone from around 3 pages to nearly 30.
     31. In Wales the minimum notice period is now 6 months and can only be served at the 6 month point of a tenancy, meaning a minimum 12 month tenancy unless contract is breached. The tenant only has to give 28 days notice.
     32. Again in Wales, it is proposed that Council Tax is to be replaced with a land value tax payable by the property owner
     33. Rent controls are being touted as a solution to the rises in rents caused by all the above.
     34. In addition the Shadow Chancellor has promised further landlord taxation if Labour come to power.

4. Estate agents push sellers towards evicting tenants when selling, as if it were mandatory. Yes, you can get more money, but no you don’t have to. My Dad refused to evict snd the agents couldn’t get their heads round it perhaps they’ve never been poor or threatened by homelessness.

5. Council often fail to inform people that they can apply for a discretionary housing payment to cover the shortfall between LHP and actual rent. It doesn’t solve the very real problems faced by many, but it is a huge help. Apply online on council website.

6. This is becoming more common all across the District. More people being evicted, through no fault of their own, and less properties available for them to rent, despite the fact that there are more new properties being built. It certainly doesn’t help that as well as there being 1,658 empty houses & 1,733 second homes in Thanet, there are also 1,531 Airbnbs (500 more than 3 years ago!)
   I welcome Cllr Whitehead’s call for action on housing at next Tuesday’s meeting and agree that there needs to be a formal hearing on this issue that affects so many and intervention from central government.

   • Thanks, Margaret Thatcher.

   • As a matter on interest how many homes in total are there in Thanet and what was the figure 3 years ago. The airbnb number is misleading as it will include listings that are part of a home and not a home in its entirety.
     How many of the empty homes have been empty for more than a year and lastly how has the number of 2nd homes changed over the recent past.

7. How much rent have the traverllers down the port of Ramsgate payed, they have been down there over 18 month’s now , they won’t be worried about electricity or water bills , because the tax payers will pay it for them ,

   • Pipe down Bert with your divisive, racist twaddle.

     • Does your comment mean that the ports tenants do in fact pay for the utilities they use? Which given the port is a commercial energy customer will be hugely more expensive than the domestic rate.

     • No it’s a perfectly good question and not racist in the least, why should the travelling community get everything for free, if we have to pay so should they.

   • Fair point Bert

   • Bert, even if they all paid for what they used it would not help. It’s small fry, along with the “3 million a day we pay to house the boat people” as is often quoted.

     How about taxing big businesses correctly. Small hard working businesses are charged at a far higher rate than the massive corporations. How about taxing Amazon, google, Apple, the oil companies etc… instead of the boring “that will stifle investment” excuse. If we taxed those big businesses correctly most of the issues in this country would vanish because we would be talking billions.

8. My Daughter and Granddaughter are in exactly the same position as her landlady has sold the flat they’ve been living in for years. My Daughter can’t work due to health reasons and neither can My Granddaughter. She is registered with the council and also looking privately, but the amount that is being asked for from guarantor’s is ridiculous…£30.000 +pa ( not many of those in Thanet, none that we know anyway) and that’s without the rent down payment. I feel awful because I can’t help being a pensioner living alone. Somethings got to be done. The council shouldn’t have sold most of the social housing in years gone by. The houses they’re allowing to be built now should be for local people and not for those from out of Thanet or those who want a second home to use as holiday homes !!!

   • Who’se going to build homes if they are meant to be reserved for local people? It would be a pointless task and lose money. Developers would just go elsewhere. The country as a whole needs more homes, so long as any home built is occupied what does it matter where they come from? If people want to get a bit grumpy , 25,000 people have ambled into the country on a dinghy, even if you say they will only need 12500 homes, that’s still 12500 unavailable for those already struggling.

     • Agreed – it is a case of too many people chasing too little property – and yet we continue to welcome hundreds more to our shores on a daily basis . . .

     • Well LC, the only way to stop migrants coming here in unseaworthy boats, is to rejoin the EU! When we were a member of the EU anyone entering the UK illegally could be returned back to the first EU country they entered, but not any more! Duurh! EU countries are not legally obliged to accept anyone who has entered the UK illegally so they don’t, which is the “Pulling Power” that makes lots of money for the people trafficers!

       • Maybe “could” but how many were returned?

9. Property is just that ! some have known issues example could be insulation, existing heating equipment expensive to run,so landlords need to act or be further mentioned (ask gov gove) often asking a tenant to move out is the only way the landlord can get all that the work done.

   All the new work needs specialist contractor to ensure its all done to the very latest building standards. Like several building control certificates will be available for a tenant or new house purchaser.

   There again there may be a higher premium paid by our gov for family resettlement. “TW media online” shows families landing in our lovely county.

   Life is tough for many, apart from doing the usual ideas hav just worked how to remove the fridge bulb to save me some kw/h

   Russia, ha haaaa ha hahh your doomed

   • what are you talking about you moron, changing a boiler or adding insulation does not mean evicting people

     • No , changing a boiler doesn’t, but insulating an older building to reach a likely to be required epc c is going to be both expensive and intrusive to do properly , if internal wall insulation is required its impracticle to do this with tenants in situ, plus once done the property has been just about totally refurbished, the costs are considerable as a result rents tend to rise considerably ( landlords will want to recoup the expenditure over around 7-10 years) though this is offset by the notional energy savings, or more likely a landlord will decide its really not worth all the trouble and instead sells up.

   • Why is Russia doomed? And how is that relevant to housing problems in East Kent?

10. I hope this family find suitable accommodation soon. Perhaps the publicity will help – not the fairest way to find a home but something has to give.

    I’m a landlord and I’ve actually made a loss the last few years. Small landlords often struggle to see much in the way of profit. I hate the whole Airbnb thing with a vengeance. I see it as people who invariably have very nice homes themselves letting potential long-term homes to other people who also usually have decent homes. Meanwhile, way too many people have no home whatsoever.

    • How can you possibly make a loss as a landlord? Unless you’ve had to spend money on making the roof water tight, or providing a heating system that’s both safe and works.

      • If you wish to help Phyllis why not purchase a property and try renting it out. I am certain you will get a massive shock at the rent required to meet your mortgage repayments, gas certificate, electric certificate, EPC, agents fees etc. You would then understand , especially with interest rates rapidly rising , how it is easy to make a loss as a landlord

        • Landlords are parasites.

      • Phyllis, given my views, do you think I’d let a substandard property? I don’t really like being a landlord but most years it does pay and the fact that my tenants have a decent home at a reasonable rent is really important to me.

      • One of my properties required c£15,000 service charge contribution this year to cover subsidence. There’s annual boiler service and certification, wear and tear on carpets and decor, repairs and replacement of appliances, agents’ fees, insurance and interest on mortgage to cover. The property has probably £250k to £280k of equity in it. I’ll be selling it as soon as the current tenants leave. Why have that kind of money sat earning zero. Much better to have it in a boat or something enjoyable. I’m not a social service.

        • My heart bleeds for landlords that say they make a “loss” – you mean you contributed some of your own money to pay a mortgage on a property you own instead of getting it for free.

          What a hardship that must be.

          Please don’t spout such nonsense. You will own the property outright and have contributed very little.

      • You clearly know nothing about the extreme taxes, 70/80/90%, charged on turnover not profit. You make a profit on those kinds of taxes!!

11. The current crisis is national and has its history in mostly Conservative policies going back years. It was Thatcher who decided to sell off council houses and not allow them to be replaced (although that has eased a little since). Social housing is now provided by the private sector.

    The better landlords tend to be the smaller ones with maybe less than a dozen properties, but government legislation to clamp down on slum landlords with hundreds of properties has made it harder for the smaller landlords to continue and many are pulling out of the market, and selling up, especially in the face of rising interest rates due to inflation. Some will themselves be forced out of the market through no choice of their own.

    S.21 notice evictions are way more destructive than many realise. As the report says, TDC will help families “after the Section 21 notice expires and the courts have awarded possession to the landlord.” AFTER the courts have been involved. This is normal policy, not just in Thanet, but imagine the stress that causes. But even worse, given that it’s virtually impossible to get a tenancy without a guarantor these days then there is a good chance that the guarantor will be billed for the court and eviction costs. If you are in need of a guarantor because you are on a low income the odds are your family member and guarantor is too. How can you do that to them?! It’s one thing to act as a guarantor in case someone defaults on their rent, something else if someone is being evicted because the owner decides to sell their property.

    The Call for Action is a last ditch attempt at getting recognition of the housing and homelessness crisis we are already in, and support in helping our most vulnerable residents. One thing it is NOT is a criticism of TDC who have and do work hard with the resources they have got.

    • Asking for a guarantor is as much about finding out if the prospective tenant has anyone that would trust them, as it’s quite a leap of faith to accept all but the most copper bottomed tenants these days.
      Whilst there are endless references to “no fault” evictions , there is always a reason for seeking repossession. How many of those in emergency housing have “issues” that make them unwanted by the private sector?
      Any chance of some numbers regarding evictions by the council/ social housing providers? In the last 20 years 80% of evictions have been pursued by the social housing providers, check out the ONS data.

    • TDCturn a blind eye to some truly appalling housing , using the excuse of not having resources to carryout an HHSRS assessment where it suits to avoid having to fullfill their statutory duties if serious issues are found. This often occurs where any action the council takes may result in the landlord deciding the sell the building and so leave the council with the problem of housing the tenants.

12. As a matter of interest, how many of the recently built homes are housing Thanet people? And what number of these are being bought for private rental and or AirBNB?

    Rob Yates, Helen Whitehead? Thanet District Council?

    • So, to sum up:
      – We need more houses, but only as long as they are not in Manston, or too close to the villages and corn fields. We dont want flats in Ramsgate centre, as we want parking for the car. But also we dont want houses away from the town, as you need the car for everything.
      – We want more houses, but only for people from Thanet, and they must be cheap to rent and/or buy. But only for people from Thanet.
      – People with a home in Thanet must never sell their home to a non-Thanetian, and absolutely forbidden to sell to a Londoner.
      – Londoners are to be avoided, and so are foreigners coming by any means. Obviously, it is OK if they become Prime Ministers, or are politicians applying for German citizenship, or a based in an offshore tax haven.
      – We must ban Airbnb. Particularly if the hosts are Londoners. Or foreigners.

    • None are being bought for private rental – landlords are exiting the market in droves, not getting into it! Although of course I’m sure you understand that if any landlord were stupid enough to provide a home these days, it would surely be a GOOD thing, right? Y’know, given how this article is about how there aren’t any rental homes when so many people need them.

13. The local housing rate is now so low for private rented properties that many are having to make up huge shortfall unless you are fortunate to live in social housing then its all paid,as a pensioner who has become a widow and lives in a charity home I have to pay £136 a month towards my rent (which is low in comparison to some) because I now have spare room, no chance of moving as property not available for my disability, the whole system is out of date and I know what these people are going through as my son/family had the same problems recently, they pay £1100 a month £600 on child care as have baby in nursery thats before bills and both working full time, they get no help at all from anywhere, this country is a total mess.

14. Yet another Tory policy of wicked Thatcher. So where are the “Affordable housing” affordable to whom? In a recent documentary on TV it highlighted the scandal of part buy part rent and so called “Affordability” The Tories have cause catastrophic damage to the U.K. and continue to do so with their evil ways.

    • Pray tell, what would your path to nirvana be? And how is it to be paid for?

15. Many ‘Buy To Let’ landlords have exited the market due to changes in tax introduced by George Osborne, they sold their properties in droves to first time buyers who benefited from no stamp duty introduced during the pandemic by Rishi Sunak, leaving a deficit of rental properties. There is no social housing because 12 years of Tory austerity means nothing was built. Yes Airbnb contributes to the issue but takes away from the focus that the government are giving massive tax cuts to big business and then clawing back tax from the middle incomers and not spending anything on the low earners. Tories prop up big property developers who only treat housing as a product for profit and not a basic human right/need. Urrrgh let’s stop blaming the individuals, the immigrants, the DFL etc, IT’S THE GOVERNMENT, THE BANKS, AND BIG BUSINESS that is stealing from you and from Thanet.

16. It’s a shame and Thanet council need to stop selling all the plots of land to property developers with big back handlers
    And make homes for people like this who Work….and not just expecting the council to house them this couple like many others in Thanet are in the same situation they are both working Counil needs to stop puttting money in there pockets and think about local residence

    • Most land sold to property developers ,is ,by farmers,and not TDC,if you are fed up have a go at the farmers

    • Where is Thanet Council getting the cash for this mate? Wouldn’t be central government now, would it? You d**ghnut.

17. “P”- can you show proof that TDC is receiving large bribes, or even smallish bribes, from property developers?

    • Many consider the Payments developers pay in terms of infrastructure payments to councils in order to gain permission little more than an bribe as is the portion of affordable housing they need to build. All these costs just ncrease the cost of building the remaining units. So basically legalised bribery.

      • I don’t suppose it can be treated as bribery if it is legalwhatever people think of it.

18. One of the developers at Westwood has sold 20 houses already to one buyer I don’t know who the buyer is could be a London Council Housing Associating / private individual.

19. I am (just about) old enough to remember when Labour and Tory politicians argued about how many Council homes they had built when in power. Even Tory politicians boasted of how many they had made available, built at taxpayers expense (which means everybody’s expense as we all pay taxes) and denounced anyone who suggested that Labour had built more! Outrageous idea!
    This was within 15 years of the end of the Second World War, that still had to be paid for.
    But the money was found (it can always be found if the will is there) and hundreds of thousands of houses were built. There were proper standards requiring the number and sizes of rooms and the provision of large gardens. Just compare a 1950s ex-Council house with a three-bed semi built recently. The reduction in size is very noticeable.
    We can do this again. But we have to have politicians with the will to do it.
    Unfortunately, the Tory variety are still mesmerised by the myths of Thatcherism and the refusal to do anything to help the population. “Handouts” apparently.
    And the Labour variety are led by people who are too scared to do anything remotely controversial for fear of being accused of being “socialists”.
    So we are stuck with ever-rising house prices, ever-rising rents,more overcrowded houses with several generations living crammed in together, and no end in sight.

20. The end is most definitely in sight. This time next year will be totally different. The cost of living will be outrageous by then , causing a property price crash, as it is heading for a repeat of 1989 / 90 correction. Many will have defaulted on their mortgage repayments as they will be unaffordable due to interest rate rises . House prices will tumble , a lot , resulting in far cheaper valuations , with many more businesses closing up for good. Things we take for granted will get far worse before any upturn happens.

21. Tis a national problem and not just Thanet. My sister was renting out her home up north and made a whopping sum of £500 profit last year. So many bills and always repairs. Sold now. Last tenants did a lot of damage to the property and got away with it due to useless letting agent.
    I have an air b&b across the road to me. 2 bed house and such a waste really. Fairly easy money I think for the owner. For now. I expect things might change come all the energy increases. Not so many people will be able to afford the prices.
    There are no cheap rents anymore in Thanet. Those born here usually have to move away to work and either rent or buy. That has been quite normal for over 30 years. Poor wages in Thanet have not helped in the past nor now. Most jobs here are minimum rate and that is never enough to get far up the housing ladder here. DFLs don’t help but London councils also buy up housing stock if they can and move families here and elsewhere. It is a mixture of problems that need sorting out if locals are to be helped in any meaningful way.

    • “Last tenants did a lot of damage to the property and got away with it due to useless letting agent.”

      That’s a legal problem for your sister’s solicitors, not the estate agents, you silly sausage.

22. This is what you get when you sell off social housing properties. They talk about demand on the waiting list. Yet they are still selling social housing properties.

    • As tenants in social housing have lifetime tenancies and the right of succession , it’s not uncommon for social housing units to be let for 50 years plus. Many in social housing either never leave, buy the the home or move from one social housing unit to another. So wether sold or not makes little difference in reality

23. Maybe if TDC didn’t have to pay out all this money to employee’s and ex-employee’s from Employment tribunals they may have the money to buy some of the land on sale in Thanet to build affordable housing and not let the London Borough’s buy it all up and place their tenants in them.

24. Its time Tenants knew the truth about WHO, is forcing Private rents to increase. Who is imposing additional costs on landlords, that in any business translates into increased end-user costs.

    • So, “WHO” is it, Possession? You’re clearly in the know of some facts (seemingly your feelings) that no-one else is?

25. JMK. The reasons you have highlighted are very true. That is the reason many cheap rents have disappeared. Councils disposed of properties ; social housing ; to avoid having a workforce to carry out essential repairs and maintenance many years ago. The red tape landlords have to endure is onerous and costly , adding up to expensive rents. Many landlords are selling up for that very reason creating a shortage of rental homes. A sad state of affairs , but of course it is easy to just pass the buck and blame landlords

    • “A sad state of affairs , but of course it is easy to just pass the buck and blame landlords”

      Well, when renting property, the “buck” stops with the landlord, as its their ownership on the deeds. If the landlord cannot run a successful business model within the constraints of the industry, they don’t have a successful business model and should sell up.

      Not forgetting that landlords are parasites anyways.

      • Dear Anon, as you state landlords are parasites I am sure you will take great delight that very soon there will be far less of them. Most landlords will have worked their socks off to purchase a buy to let, taken risks, and maybe purchased a property to try to earn a return on their savings , due to the base rate dropping to less than 1% to save our banks in 2008. Perhaps Anon has a plan in place to rehouse the unfortunate residents who are homeless due to the parasitic landlords quitting due to selling up due to it becoming unprofitable, arduous , etc. Not to mention of course the tenants playing the system and not even paying rent. It very often can take a year to get a court date to remove a bad tenant 🤔

        • Maybe the prolonged ’emergency’ peppercorn interest rates led to landlords (both with portfolios and new to BTL) to muscle into property knowing that the asset appreciation would more than cover unusually low repayments?

26. This is excellent news and just what everyone wanted! The public spent years telling landlords they weren’t wanted and that they should all sell up and go. The govt responded to this by inflicting extreme taxation (Section 24) such that it wasn’t possible to continue and evicting/selling was the only option. Despite landlords repeatedly warning this would be the outcome, no one believed them and told them to pack up as quickly as possible. So they did! And now the same public that hated them so much are surprised there’s no rental houses. Who’d have thought it?!

27. That’s a very good point LC raised regarding right of succession.

    In effect, there’s no difference if the property was sold to incumbent tenants if that property would then be out of market for 50+ years. Who is going to buy if social rents are always below private rates?

    If a social property was given to a family to rent in, say, 1978, MT’s RTB policy in 1979 would have no effect if that family continued to pass it down in 3 generations as was in some council areas.

    The net situation would thus be exactly the same; a shortage.

28. Not Impressed has no sympathy for private landlords and maybe has never tried renting a property. That is fine but nothing in renting is easy to do so lawfully. Endless rules / laws , with lots more approaching, some tenants not paying rent , etc. etc. The bottom line is that the true facts are that landlords are selling up and there are NO council or Housing Ass properties available. This situation will only get worse due to the fact that Councils tell tenants who have been given notice to leave , not to leave , as you will make yourself homeless and the Council / Housing Ass have NO available places for you to live. As an eviction can take around a year due to backlogs in the court system , and tenants will often cease paying any rent at all , very soon accommodation will be unaffordable and very scarce

29. So, you have no sympathy for private landlords, most of which are operating within the Law and with very little profit. Also, the obvious main beneficiaries are council’s and HA’s which are spared housing those tenants.

    With such ill-feeling against landlords, which I am sure is felt by many more like you, it’s small wonder they feel undervalued and proceed to sell up on en masse.

    I would propose you stop stoking nonsense and give landlords a little bit of credit.

30. I am not sure if this is just he said, she said – but I heard that there were supposed to be social housing properties from the huge amount of new builds around Westwood Cross that Thanet council could buy at a reduced rate, but they sold to London councils? I hope this is wrong.
    Also government after government have relied on Landlords to supply housing to their tenants, obvs this is a financial agreement which has helped both parties, But councils need to supply decent affordable housing it has relied too much for too long on private landlords.

31. On a slightly different note. I noticed various signs on the Granville Theatre by Miles & Barr saying SOLD. TDC obviously did not fancy being a landlord as one can only guess they have sold the freehold ???

32. Maybe it’s time to place the onus of blame on the parents and not councils.

    If you have baby boomer parents that are still alive, well off, and in possession of a large property with mucho spare rooms perloined during the good times, why not descend upon them for housing?

    Very efficient in terms of sharing costs.

    Too many of the nation’s housing stock is underoccupied and no one dares speak up!

    You know who you are.

33. Arthur here, ignoring the fact that a property owner can do whatever they like with their property, THAT THEY OWN OUTRIGHT.

    “Too many of the nation’s housing stock is underoccupied and no one dares speak up!”

    Yet, strangely enough, here you are.

    • Sorry I touched a nerve.

      Shouting out the virtues of completed home ownership will fall on deaf ears to most, notwithstanding the fact there’s no-one listening in the five bedrooms you have spare.

34. The acronym WHO means World Health Organisation. It could perhaps have been BEWARE – Barmy Eggheads Want All Relationships Ended. The brave New World beacons , No Germs, No Cash, No Homes ( Homes no longer required due to the heat meaning humans sleep out in the open air ) Doctors phone appointments only ; if you are lucky , Dental care immediately if you travel to Turkey.