By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions. We in turn value your personal details in accordance with our Privacy Policy.
Please log in or register. Registered visitors get fewer ads.
Britain’s housing market is broken – but it didn’t have to be like this. For decades, politicians sold the dream of home ownership. But for millions of people, the reality is very different. People struggle to buy, and those lucky enough to own now face mortgage repayments among the highest in history. A priced-out generation contends with record rents, while ‘affordable’ housing feels anything but.
In this first episode, key figures from government, finance and campaigning reveal the roots of the housing crisis – and whose decisions led Britain here. In the boom before the financial crisis, when investors raced against first-time buyers to snap up property, the average British home doubled in price in just five years. After the crisis, quantitative easing and the ‘cocaine’ of Help to Buy ensure prices keep on rising. Who really got rich during these years – and why did it take government so long to realise there were also losers?
In an ugly Brexit vote, both sides try and capitalise on housing, while campaigners fear plans for a mass sell-off of social housing could be catastrophic. A succession of scandals break around new-build homes and shocking conditions in the social sector. Then, political and economic turmoil sends interest rates soaring – and now, not even the home ownership promised by politicians feels secure anymore.
I didn't even realise there was a UFC fighter from Ipswich. It sounded like he was unlucky last night (see this video here: I'll definitely look out for his future fights. I used to watch UFC a lot back in the GSP and Anderson Silva eras, but I've sort of lost my way with it. I remember when Machida first burst on the scene; he was exciting. And Bisping had some good fights during his time. I still love boxing, even if it can be a circus at times!
Edit: The video link might not work directly from here. If you search ROBBERY?!! Who Really Won (Arnold Allen vs. Movsar Evloev)? on YouTube. It's on a channel called The Weasle which has nearly 350k subscribers.
"What’s even more fearsome than the losses made is the debt the club has, as detailed in the ‘current assets’ section of the report. Their debt has jumped from £66million this time last year to £76million in the current accounts, an increase caused mainly by interest. "
And to put it into better perspective, if you had purchased BTC one year ago today, you'd be around 8% or 10% in the red, depending on whether you purchased using USD or GBP. So while it's been a very good year to date, it's not been very good across the last 12 months in total.
Bitcoin is currently 50% up this year vs. GBP (YTD), although it's only just over 5% up in the last 3 months. And it lost 5.5% last week. It's up 57% YTD vs. USD. So I'm not sure if it's the best time to buy, as there've been some good gains this year already after it hit the lows at the end of last year. Buying on January 1st and selling a week ago would have been the play; hindsight is a wonderful thing, hey!
‘One day you’ll write a book about this club. Or, more to the point, about me. So you may as well know what I’m thinking and save it up for later when it won’t do any harm to anyone.’
Brian Clough’s twenty years as Nottingham Forest manager were an unpredictable mixture of success, failure, fall-outs and alcoholism. Duncan Hamilton, initiated as a young journalist into the Brian Clough empire, was there to see it all. In this strikingly intimate biography — William Hill Sports Book of the Year 2007 — Hamilton paints a vivid portrait of one of football’s greatest managers: from Nottingham Forest’s double European Cup triumph to the torturous breakdown of relations at the club and Clough’s descent into alcoholism.
Sad, joyous and personal, Hamilton’s account of life with Brian Clough is a touching tribute to a brilliant man.
I would be sorry to see him go. I think we should stick with him, as he's got a lot of potential. I think he could develop into a great player for us if given time. On his day, he's very hard for the opposition to contain. Get some added consistency, and we'd have a real gem on our hands.