economic situation is dire

[chrisp65]

I was involved in a scheme to almost literally burn shit down at Port Talbot. The scheme involved building a mini power station on already contaminated land freed up when British Steel shrunk away. The site has a dedicated harbour but is completely surrounded on the land side by the Tata Steel Plant. The power station was to provide power for Tata, not necessarily the cheapest in the short term, but consistent and under their control and thus supplying when it was needed.  

Stating the obvs, it would create some jobs but critically it would help maintain the Tata Steel jobs.

 

So, to recap, a new build project on contaminated land that was surrounded by a steel factory, providing new jobs producing energy to ensure existing jobs and exports.

 

Neath Port Talbot Planners, with the support of the residents of Port Talbot rejected the plan on the grounds it could be to the detriment of any as yet unknown future leisure developments.

 

Never has there been such a self fulfilling prophecy because with that standard of planning soon the only thing there will be bingo.

[snowychap]

I've been looking at a localised system for implementation in areas with little existing infrastructure that super heats any old crap anaerobically with 0% emissions and creates natural gas for power. The only by-product is an inert and harmless gravel like substance that can used in aggregate.   It's not cheap but if implemented locally in a country like the UK it would solve multiple problems at a stroke, so you have to wonder why solutions like this aren't seriously considered.

I have something in the back of my mind about a news report in the past fortnight talking about something like this (though it didn't quite sound as good).

I may, however, have been dreaming or, as Tony delicately put it, on another planet.

[Awol]

I've been looking at a localised system for implementation in areas with little existing infrastructure that super heats any old crap anaerobically with 0% emissions and creates natural gas for power. The only by-product is an inert and harmless gravel like substance that can used in aggregate. It's not cheap but if implemented locally in a country like the UK it would solve multiple problems at a stroke, so you have to wonder why solutions like this aren't seriously considered.

I have something in the back of my mind about a news report in the past fortnight talking about something like this (though it didn't quite sound as good).

I may, however, have been dreaming or, as Tony delicately put it, on another planet.

The idea isn't a new one, the difficulty has been the technology, specifically getting the heating vessel to withstand sustained exposure to the required temperatures. Perhaps unsurprisingly it's the Germans who've sussed it. One ME country has already put in a massive order with more to follow. It's environmentally sound locally produced power that simultaneously disposes of waste - including toxic crap from the oilfields.

/tangent (sorry).

[snowychap]

No need for apologies, mate.

Interesting stuff (and a step up from the household waste report that was in my mind).

[peterms]

I've been looking at a localised system for implementation in areas with little existing infrastructure that super heats any old crap anaerobically with 0% emissions and creates natural gas for power. The only by-product is an inert and harmless gravel like substance that can used in aggregate. It's not cheap but if implemented locally in a country like the UK it would solve multiple problems at a stroke, so you have to wonder why solutions like this aren't seriously considered.

I have something in the back of my mind about a news report in the past fortnight talking about something like this (though it didn't quite sound as good).

I may, however, have been dreaming or, as Tony delicately put it, on another planet.

The idea isn't a new one, the difficulty has been the technology, specifically getting the heating vessel to withstand sustained exposure to the required temperatures. Perhaps unsurprisingly it's the Germans who've sussed it. One ME country has already put in a massive order with more to follow. It's environmentally sound locally produced power that simultaneously disposes of waste - including toxic crap from the oilfields.

/tangent (sorry).

I'm shocked. I thought you were doing something like gunrunning, or forming a mercenary army for some sheikh with mirror sunglasses and a permanent sneer, and instead you're saving the planet like some bloody tofu-munching hippy. How desperately disillusioning.

[mockingbird_franklin]

I'm shocked. I thought you were doing something like gunrunning, or forming a mercenary army for some sheikh with mirror sunglasses and a permanent sneer, and instead you're saving the planet like some bloody tofu-munching hippy. How desperately disillusioning.

If he was doing either of these, he would in all likely hood be recieving help in his enterprise from the government of the day. It would also be likely he is the offspring of a former leader of a major political party who served in government in a very senior position

[bickster]

Neath Port Talbot Planners, with the support of the residents of Port Talbot rejected the plan on the grounds it could be to the detriment of any as yet unknown future leisure developments.

You mean people don't travel from miles around to go to the Afan Lido anymore? you couldn't possibly site a power station down wind of the greatest outdoor public swimming pool Port Talbot has ever known...

[Xann]

... so you have to wonder why solutions like this aren't seriously considered.

 

You know why.

 

How about

one then?

[snowychap]

If he was doing either of these, he would in all likely hood be recieving help in his enterprise from the government of the day. It would also be likely he is the offspring of a former leader of a major political party who served in government in a very senior position

I've met Jon and he isn't Carol Thatcher.

[chrisp65]

 

Neath Port Talbot Planners, with the support of the residents of Port Talbot rejected the plan on the grounds it could be to the detriment of any as yet unknown future leisure developments.

You mean people don't travel from miles around to go to the Afan Lido anymore? you couldn't possibly site a power station down wind of the greatest outdoor public swimming pool Port Talbot has ever known...

 

 

it burnt down about 4 or 5 years ago

 

fair play, I hadn't realised you could burn down a swimming pool

[bickster]

Neath Port Talbot Planners, with the support of the residents of Port Talbot rejected the plan on the grounds it could be to the detriment of any as yet unknown future leisure developments.

You mean people don't travel from miles around to go to the Afan Lido anymore? you couldn't possibly site a power station down wind of the greatest outdoor public swimming pool Port Talbot has ever known...

 

it burnt down about 4 or 5 years ago

fair play, I hadn't realised you could burn down a swimming pool

Especially one with no roof!

[snowychap]

Stop rich overseas investors from buying up UK homes, report urges

Radical plans to stop rich overseas residents who live outside the EU buying British houses – as well as tight restrictions on them acquiring "newbuild" properties as investments – will be published in a report by a leading rightwing thinktank on Monday.

Free-market organisation Civitas castigates government ministers for allowing wealthy foreign investors to stoke a property boom that it says is driving up prices and locking millions of UK citizens out of the housing market.

The plans would prevent the likes of Roman Abramovich, owner of Chelsea football club, or other Russian oligarchs from adding to their multimillion-pound UK portfolios. They also aim to stem a flood of investment from countries such as China, Malaysia and Singapore.

Concerned that many middle and lower earners are being forced to pay high rents in London because they can't afford to buy, Civitas calls on ministers to adopt a scheme similar to one operating in Australia, which ensures that no sale can take place to overseas buyers unless they can show that their investment will add to existing housing stock.

Such a system would mean that no existing home could be sold to a buyer from outside the EU, and that such buyers could acquire newbuild homes only if their investment led to one or more additional properties being built.

The report, called Finding Shelter, cites statistics showing that 85% of prime London property purchases in 2012 were made with overseas money. Estate agent Savills found that last year £7bn of international money was spent on "high-end" London homes, with just 20% of that spent by UK citizens. Two-thirds of homes bought by people from overseas were not purchased for owner-occupation but as investments.

Civitas says the problem is not confined to the top end of the market and that overseas buyers are also acquiring less expensive newbuild homes. It says that over the past two years only 27% of new homes in central London went to UK buyers, while more than half were sold to residents of Singapore, Hong Kong, China, Malaysia and Russia.

"The UK property market is being used as an investment vehicle by the global super-rich – and increasingly the simply well-to-do," the report says. "The inflationary impact of this extra cash is good news for property owners – until they want to trade up the housing ladder.

"It is good news for estate agents on commission, who report with glee every pulse and surge in the market. But it is not good for those already being priced out at the bottom."

Overseas investment, it adds, is also "distorting housebuilding priorities, with developers disproportionately attracted to high-value developments while ignoring the undersupply at lower levels of the market."

Oligarchs including Abramovich and former Yukos Oil vice-president Konstantin Kagalovsky have bought London properties, with Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Kensington and Chelsea their favourite hunting grounds.

Under Australia's scheme, all foreign non-residents and holders of short-term visas have to apply to the Foreign Investment Review Board if they want to buy property. Its rules state that they can do so only if their investment leads to an increase in available dwellings.

Civitas says that if a similar scheme were adopted here, people from outside the EU would be able buy a newbuild property only if they had invested in a building scheme.

In last year's autumn statement the chancellor, George Osborne, announced that he was closing a loophole that had allowed foreign investors to make huge profits on sales of UK homes by avoiding any capital gains tax. Civitas says that move, while a step forward, is unlikely to deter them, because the booming British market remains so attractive.

Labour recently announced a series of measures to boost housebuilding and deter foreign investment in London, including changing the rules so that newbuild homes have to be marketed to Londoners first, rather than sold off-plan to investors around the world. It also plans to double council tax for homes left empty and will end another loophole that allows overseas owners to cut their tax bills by claiming their properties are "second homes" and furnishing them with minimal items such a single table and chair.

Sadiq Khan, the shadow London minister, said: "London is in the middle of a severe housing crisis, yet there are around 50,000 empty homes across the city. It's complete madness. We must stop housing that's built as family homes being used instead as a piggy bank for the world's wealthiest people.

"We urgently need to build more affordable housing in London, but unless all new homes are made available for Londoners to buy, they won't help solve the crisis."

[tonyh29]

They used ** to have a law in Hungary , in that only Hungarians could buy houses there....

So what you did is purchase a small off the shelf Hungarian company and buy your house through the company ... There are firms that specialise in this for you and I believe many people investing in other European countries also used this method... I saw something similar being offered in Bulgaria

I would presume it would involve a small amount of fee each year for a tax return / accountant and in theory selling the property would involve tax etc but judging by the amount of Germans that own property in lake Balaton it didn't seem to be an issue

Where there's an idea , there's always a loophole

**

I say used to as I believe EU citizens are now free to purchase property in Hungary

[peterms]

Yes, there's always a loophole. The question is whether the loophole is worth the cost and complexity. In our case, it seems there are so many loopholes that it's quite easy to evade restrictions. I suppose that's the consequence of having our tax system largely designed by firms of taxdodging accountants "helping" the Treasury.

On the property issue, I'd like to see something which allowed foreigners working here to own a property, while acting against speculators. Maybe something like owning one property only, and no company ownership of any property if the true ownership of the company cannot be verified. In particular, anything owned by companies using taxdoging havens should be expropriated, and turned over to (for example) a combination of charities and local authorities, either to use as housing or if more appropriate to sell and use the proceeds. Combine that with a land value tax, and we'd see some changes.

[MakemineVanilla]

The fact that government are laying out the red carpet to attract foreigners into the housing market, just proves that our government have learnt absolutely nothing and are intent on inflating yet another property bubble.

 

While the increasing value of property ensures easy money is made, investment will be drawn away from manufacturing and will ensure we have an economy based upon consumption rather than production, as people either borrow money against their increasing equity or cash that equity in.

 

It seems that our governments are all addicted to funny money created from property speculation with Chinese money.

 

It will end the same as last time and we will all be encouraged to pretend it is a big surprise.

[blandy]

I kind of think it's ironic that a "Free-market organisation" is castigating government ministers for allowing wealthy foreign investors to "stoke a boom". That's what free market supply and demand does. It's like the carnivore association castigating Beefeater pubs for serving steaks.

I wonder what they said about foreign companies buying our (privatised) utilities, or the Gov't getting french and chinese to pay for new nuclear power stations, or Deutschebahn owning parts of the railways. I imagine they'd have expressed their deep horror?

When even uber capitalists are saying there's something wrong with letting the "market decide" then surely the game's up.

Unless it's just blatant hyprocrisy, of course.

[snowychap]

Quite amazing watching some of the stuff on Peston's programme about China.

Some of it looks like a bizarre combination of 'tractors', a property bubble and expropriation. The worst of both worlds.

Edited February 18, 2014 by snowychap

[peterms]

[CarewsEyebrowDesigner]

Bastard Banks Being Devious Bastards

[mockingbird_franklin]

The Economic situation is dire and will continue to be increasingly so, well unless you are part of the scam, or worthy of a payoff from the scamsters, until the scam that is the current banking system is stopped,