Inheritance tax ...

[diy_fun_uk]

The UK has a serious problem with wealth inequality

It is so serious that the UK has far lower living standards for the majority of its population compared to many other countries


The primary factor is asset distribution.

1) the govt flogged all its assets to private businesses, so asset value gain benefits shareholders not the general public….the result is public services keep costing more and you get less and less for it

2) property ownership is being transferred from workers to the wealthy, the evidence is home ownership rates are dropping.


I own my home I’m very lucky, but unlike you I think about other people suffering increasing levels of poverty.

You don't half type some guff.

property ownership is being transferred from workers to the wealthy, the evidence is home ownership rates are dropping.

Do you class everyone who owns a property as 'wealthy'?

 

[motorbiking]

nothing much has changed

Housing, England and Wales - Office for National Statistics

Accommodation type, tenure, rooms and bedrooms, central heating and car or van availability in England and Wales, Census 2021 data.

www.ons.gov.uk

and I'd like to see a list of countries that have better living standards. Certainly not any I've visited recently. Maybe Texas.

 

[ajohn]

nothing much has changed

an increase in the proportion of households that rented their accommodation, to 37.3%, 9.3 million, in 2021 (from 34.3%, 8.0 million, in 2011)

That really needs to go back to earlier points in time - say to the start of buy to let mortgages but 1.3m is still significant and I expect it to continue growing.

 

[motorbiking]

If you go back to 40 years.. It looks like Maggie Thatchers Government did a great job.

 

[JonathanM]

and I'd like to see a list of countries that have better living standards. Certainly not any I've visited recently. Maybe Texas.

What's your opinion on France and Germany in this respect? People often say they have it better.

 

[motorbiking]

France is 50% bigger for the same population, and while you can get a nice place in the mountains or countryside, rural life is pretty bad. In the cities you pay a fortune for really awful accommodation. Shopping, eating out etc is expensive.

Germany, there is a lot to like. The autobahn for example.. my taxi was cruising at 150-175KPH and everyone was driving safely. But it still cost 400 euro return for an hour each way. Uber would have been a bit cheaper. You don't see the city slums like you do in France.

Again Urban life is a bit Milton Keynes (1960s apartments) and if you want a central place in an old city its expensive.

But the real differences are the cultural attitudes. Education is important, people want to achieve. Its not standard of living, but attitude to living.

 

[ajohn]

It looks like Maggie Thatchers Government did a great job.

LOL yes and some complain about how she did it. I am not a great believer in council houses coming back. Having seen a large estate of them in some detail I do know that a fair proportion could have bought similar properties themselves or even maybe better. That would need some similar to be built to sell when they were not.

The more interesting aspects with new builds is profits and dividends. To a lesser extent possibly changes to building regs as well.

 

[Notch7]

You don't half type some guff.

property ownership is being transferred from workers to the wealthy, the evidence is home ownership rates are dropping.

Do you class everyone who owns a property as 'wealthy'?

I am sorry facts upset you:

There has been a “substantial fall” in home ownership among young adults since 1997.

The IFS said 35% of 25- to 34-year-olds in 2017 were homeowners, a decrease from 55% in 1997. The IFS noted that the biggest fall had been seen among middle-income young adults.

So less people are able to get on the housing ladder

So more people rent


People that own property have more assets than those that dont


And yes, pretty much everybody that owns a house is asset rich, thats wealth

 

[Notch7]

But the real differences are the cultural attitudes. Education is important, people want to achieve. Its not standard of living, but attitude to living

It seems Motorbiking has taken to reading the Daily Express and the Daily Mail

a typical Tory who thinks the only reason people are in poverty is because they are lazy f****s

 

[Notch7]

and I'd like to see a list of countries that have better living standards.

No you wouldnt


While the top 10% of households in Britain are richer than those in many other European countries, middle-income British households are not: they are 9% poorer than their counterparts in France, while the poorest fifth of households in Britain are now over 20% poorer than their French and German equivalents.

Why Britain is more geographically unequal than any other rich country​

Other countries have poor bits. Britain has a poor half​

Why Britain is more geographically unequal than any other rich country

Other countries have poor bits. Britain has a poor half

www.economist.com

Britain and the US are poor societies with some very rich people​

Britain is a different story. While the top earners rank fifth, the average household ranks 12th and the poorest 5 per cent rank 15th. Far from simply losing touch with their western European peers, last year the lowest-earning bracket of British households had a standard of living that was 20 per cent weaker than their counterparts in Slovenia.

Britain and the US are poor societies with some very rich people

When it comes to average household incomes, the UK may soon need to ask migrant labourers to take a pay cut

www.ft.com

 

[JohnD]

Education is important, people want to achieve. Its not standard of living, but attitude to living.

The ruling classes in Britain, and other people who can afford it, tend to send their offspring to schools of their choice, well-endowed with facilities and qualified staff.

The residue mostly send their children to whatever state-funded institution is available to them.

Did Johnson or Cameron feel a loyalty to Bog Street Comprehensive? Did they instinctively feel that the common people should have access to high standards? Were they concerned about school roofs falling in before the scandal rose to public prominence?

No.

They even had to be shamed into providing school meals for the children of the poor by a footballer.

 

[JohnD]

Germany, there is a lot to like. The autobahn for example.. my taxi was cruising at 150-175KPH and everyone was driving safely.

Imagine living in a country where the streets have so many holes you can use them as a golf course

Public spending by Tories? Nein Danke!

 

[JohnD]

Do you class everyone who owns a property as 'wealthy'?

I'm sure I saw some twot on here poking fun at a builder who he thought had a million-pound house, and suggesting he was a bloated plutocrat.

Here's a question for you:

Is a person lucky enough to own a million pound house (or a half million, or a quarter million) likely to be wealthier than a young family doomed to live out their days in rented accommodation? Paying rent to help the landlord buy a house, but unable ever to buy one of their own? And with nothing to show for a lifetime of paying rent?

 

[carmanmemoranda]

France is 50% bigger for the same population, and while you can get a nice place in the mountains or countryside, rural life is pretty bad. In the cities you pay a fortune for really awful accommodation. Shopping, eating out etc is expensive.

Germany, there is a lot to like. The autobahn for example.. my taxi was cruising at 150-175KPH and everyone was driving safely. But it still cost 400 euro return for an hour each way. Uber would have been a bit cheaper. You don't see the city slums like you do in France.

Again Urban life is a bit Milton Keynes (1960s apartments) and if you want a central place in an old city its expensive.

But the real differences are the cultural attitudes. Education is important, people want to achieve. Its not standard of living, but attitude to living.

Cities and accommodation are pretty much the same all over the world

The difference is the quality and standard of life

We are way behind if you compare like with like.

 

[JohnD]

If you go back to 40 years.. It looks like Maggie Thatchers Government did a great job.

surely you are not too young to remember the terrible Thatcher years of galloping interest rates that drove mortgages up to record levels? And drove many businesses into bankruptcy? And enormous unemployment?

Some years later, I moved into a self-build development started in Thatcher's years. I learned that only two of the residents had been able to survive Thatcher's depression and mortgage peak and keep their homes. All the others had been forced to sell up.

That's what you call "a great job"