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Algarve Investor

Full-time overseas investor

16460 Profile Views

About Me

Spend half my time in England and half my time in Portugal, where I own and let out a number of properties ranging from apartments to villas.

my expertise in the industry

Wouldn't say I was a property expert, but my dealings with the industry in the last two decades have given me a great insight into both the good and bad sides of estate agency. Most people I've met have been professionalism personified, but not all. Which is why I get annoyed by rogue landlords and agents who live up to the greedy estate agent stereotype - it tars everyone with the same brush!

Particularly annoyed by high house prices and the inability of successive governments to build enough new houses. Very keen on innovation and entrepreneurial spirit - estate agency has the tools to lead the way when it comes to new technology (embracing this doesn't mean a rejection of traditional methods!)

Algarve 's Recent Activity

Have to respectfully disagree. Kwasi's mini-Budget was a disaster. If you're going to come out with £45bn worth of unfunded tax cuts, and not reassure everyone how you were going to pay for this, don't be surprised if the markets panic. Also, cutting the top rate of tax and corporation tax in a cost-of-living crisis was the totally wrong thing to do, especially the former - it just looked utterly tone-deaf. Plus trickle-down economics just doesn't work, because people with more money tend to keep that money rather than spending it, as ordinary people would. It was the wrong budget at the wrong time, and their arrogance ultimately was their undoing. This is all on them - the economy wasn't in a great state before, but they took it to precipice for ideological purposes. Totally irresponsible. And for what? They've had to completely U-turn on almost everything. If Corbyn and co had done what Truss and Kwarteng did, or if Starmer and Reeves did, we'd never hear the end of it. She's trashed her party's reputation - deserved or otherwise - for fiscal competence. And that won't be easily recovered.

From: Algarve Investor 17 October 2022 13:17 PM

Truss is toast. Has there ever been a more humiliating climbdown for a PM? Hunt is, to all intents and purposes, in charge now. Truss has been completely sidelined, in hiding, her plans in tatters. I would feel sorry for her if she and Kwasi hadn't been so arrogant in their plans, refusing to listen to anyone else, refusing to fund their proposals, refusing to get the OBR involved. The sacking of that experienced Treasury official because he was part of the 'orthodoxy' was also a disaster. The markets are kings, whether you like it or not, and you can't panic them like that and expect to get away with it. The experiment was an absolute disaster and has made us, and the country, all much poorer. Any support for energy was immediately wiped out. Total chaos. I can't see how she survives this. She'll be gone in weeks and the pressure on the Tories to hold a GE will grow. But, as all the polls currently point to electoral wipeout, I can't see them calling for one until they absolutely have to.

From: Algarve Investor 17 October 2022 13:12 PM

Wow, they're really chasing the tenant vote aren't they? Seems a bit mad, as most young people are never going to vote Tory and really don't like Boris. He just risks alienating the private rented sector. There doesn't seem anything here for landlords to cling to.

From: Algarve Investor 15 June 2022 09:11 AM

Desperate stuff from a desperate PM.

From: Algarve Investor 08 June 2022 08:16 AM

He'll be gone in six months, I reckon. Although he'd struggle to do less than Pincher in the role, who appeared to do absolutely nothing of note and was more interested in a shadow whipping operation to save Boris Johnson. Not surprising he's now become a whip.

From: Algarve Investor 09 February 2022 07:53 AM

Interesting. The Tories/government really do seem to have fallen out of love with landlords. I suppose they are banking on landlords still voting Conservative - which is probably quite a fair bet - but a risky strategy nonetheless. Nothing wrong with regulation and redress, but I'm not sure how a national landlord register would work in theory and how effective it would be. Haven't there only been about 5 banning orders placed on landlords since they were introduced? I can see the new system being similarly toothless in terms of rooting out the rogues.

From: Algarve Investor 31 January 2022 12:19 PM

You can't see why it's an issue? The man and his team who make the rules ignoring those rules to have a party when millions of others were making huge sacrifices. Most people followed the rules, but it seems those in Downing St didn't feel they needed to. The optics of it is terrible, especially as they so clearly tried to hide it. Johnson has only apologised - and it was barely an apology - because he got found out. He is a dead man walking - it's just a matter of when, not if, he now goes.

From: Algarve Investor 13 January 2022 14:16 PM

Sunak is all hot air, who runs away at the first sign of trouble. He is undeniably slick and savvy, but he has also made a number of mistakes recently that have affected his standing. But, compared to Liz Truss, he's an intellectual titan.

From: Algarve Investor 13 January 2022 14:14 PM

Yeah, but he is far and away one of the worst.

From: Algarve Investor 13 January 2022 14:12 PM

Will PB last till Christmas at this rate? Like the Tories and Johnson at present, it just seems to be lurching from one crisis to another, with each new one seemingly bigger than the last.

From: Algarve Investor 13 December 2021 11:27 AM

Can being kicked down the road. Again.

From: Algarve Investor 28 October 2021 14:49 PM

Well, yes it is. A £20 reduction in UC is a cut, even if it's returning to pre-Covid levels. You can agree or disagree with the decision, but it does represent a cut. Semantics to suggest otherwise.

From: Algarve Investor 18 October 2021 10:58 AM

The very worst face of landlords - and other landlords shouldn't be afraid to call out people like Fergus Wilson to improve the sector's reputation as a whole. He's the modern-day Rachman. I get the need to be defensive of landlords, but I think in this case he is completely in the wrong and it's not exactly the first time he's landed himself in hot water.

From: Algarve Investor 23 September 2021 15:52 PM

Quite. There is a natural tendency on here to defend the landlord at all costs, but sometimes they are just wrong'uns who need the book throwing at them, just as there are rogue tenants as well. Just because they are in the minority, doesn't mean we shouldn't condemn them when something like this happens. As you say, they are the reason the PRS gets a bad name and they need to be stamped out as much as possible.

From: Algarve Investor 20 July 2021 13:33 PM

Shockingly low fine - what kind of deterrent is that for appalling behaviour like this? As others have said above, the penalties need to be far harsher to discourage this kind of behaviour. £10,000 seems like small change - a piddly penalty. He should be banned from ever letting homes ever again. Is the Rogue Landlord & Agent checker even live yet? What is the point of that? Seems like a totally blunt instrument.

From: Algarve Investor 20 July 2021 13:31 PM

Does seem faintly ridiculous that someone earning so much has such a low rent, particularly when many struggling students pay much more. Not a great look.

From: Algarve Investor 10 May 2021 12:37 PM

What's more worrying is nearly 14 million people were willing to - and did - elect a proven liar who's been sacked numerous times, who's cheated and screwed over pretty much anyone he's ever come into contact with, who has come up with some pretty questionable statements, who lied about Brexit, and who changes his mind and principles according to what suits Boris. Those who said they couldn't stomach Corbyn and then voted for Boris have some weird logic going on, given that Johnson is a far worse person than Corbyn, who admittedly has plenty of baggage but fundamentally seems a decent guy.

From: Algarve Investor 15 April 2021 14:53 PM

He will be elected - that's beyond doubt. He's 25 points ahead in all the polls with less than a month to go, and that's with Bailey and co now getting media coverage. The Tories have all but given up already. It's very hard for a Conservative to win in a Remain city which generally votes Labour right now, but Bailey's campaign has been woeful and littered with mistakes. Even without Rory Stewart there to split the Tory vote, he has made no headwind. Khan is unpopular among landlords, for obvious reasons, but he is popular generally speaking. As I've said before, rent controls are an empty threat as he requires government approval to sign these off. Can you really see the Tory government doing that? I personally can't.

From: Algarve Investor 09 April 2021 10:04 AM

What an utter farce. A disaster from start to finish. The most atrocious rollout since Test & Trace and a huge waste of everyone's time and money. This should be a resigning matter for whoever was in charge of this. How has it gone so badly wrong? And how can the government hope to reach its 2030 and 2050 targets when it can't get something like this right? A complete joke of planning, execution and a whole lot else besides.

From: Algarve Investor 29 March 2021 10:09 AM

Regardless, it's no bad thing to aim for better energy efficiency if that isn't already the case. Means lower bills for you or your tenant - depending on the model you employ - and is good for the environment. Just a shame the government has got the Green Homes Grant rollout so spectacularly wrong. Truly disastrous in every single sense of the word. Then again, the Environment Secretary is George Eustice who has the press nickname of Useless. So maybe it's not so surprising after all.

From: Algarve Investor 24 March 2021 15:05 PM

Oh yes, the Reform Party, led by well-known man of the people Farage - oh wait, no, he's quit politics again, until he returns for the umpteenth time. Instead, we have Richard Tice, another man of the people. One of the self-named Bad Boys of Brexit. Urgh! Almost, but not quite, as bad as Reclaim UK, that other entirely pointless political party that claims it is denied a voice and silenced despite being on the TV and radio all the time. Laurence Fox, another man of the people, should have stuck to being a half-decent TV actor, not stepping into the world of politics and making himself look a fool. Fortunately, the London mayoral elections will show how much support he and his ilk truly have.

From: Algarve Investor 18 March 2021 17:06 PM

Blimey, Terry, we finally agree on something. You're absolutely right. You can disagree all you like with Acorn-type protests, and sometimes these do seem to cross the line, but moving towards banning protest outright - or at least stripping it away as a basic human right - is a very dangerous precedent. Under the cloak of the coronavirus regulations, that's exactly what the Tories are trying to do. Life's much easier for the government and big companies if you can't strike or protest, after all.

From: Algarve Investor 16 March 2021 15:28 PM

Wait, so it's never the landlord's fault and in this case the landlord has nothing to answer for? Funny how the council and court think differently. I get the need to constantly absolve landlords of blame, and lay the blame on tenants instead, but sometimes it just doesn't fly or hold any credence. Sometimes tenants are the victims and not at fault, just as not all landlords are bad. It's important to call out bad practice wherever we see it to improve the sector, and the above is an example of that. We need to accept he did wrong and learn from it, rather than apportioning blame elsewhere or making excuses. That's my view anyway.

From: Algarve Investor 15 March 2021 14:18 PM

Would we give the same leeway to rogue tenants? I think it's only fair we call out and damn people when they do wrong, no matter their age and no matter if they are a landlord or tenant, and I think in this case criticism is fully justified and he was banged to rights. Having someone there who worked for Crow in return for accommodation doesn't look good at all.

From: Algarve Investor 15 March 2021 14:15 PM

Apparently not. I've seen from a few sources that the Bill currently waiting for a second reading in Parliament has no chance of making it as law because it was introduced as a Ten Minute Bill and they never make it through to actual legislation. I think the pressure will just grow, through the government's model tenancy and elsewhere, for more landlords to accept pets, but there will be no obligation to do so.

From: Algarve Investor 08 March 2021 11:57 AM

Interesting. Lloyds, John Lewis - who will be next? This could be a real game-changer and feeds into the whole Build to Rent/co-living/PBSA corporate side of the market, which appears to be growing quite fast. The government seem very keen to push this kind of renting experience over the traditional one and at the expense of a traditional buy-to-letter. I'm not sure this will go down well. Despite all the hype, BTR is only responsible for around 1% of the market, and co-living even less than that, but they get a lot more love from the government than those who rent out the majority of homes in the UK. Strange.

From: Algarve Investor 05 March 2021 10:42 AM

Or we could say language evolves over time, bringing in words from all sorts of places. I've never considered 'reach out' to be a particularly American thing or all that bothersome. There are far worse Americanisms that are far more worthy of scorn than 'reach out', I'd argue.

From: Algarve Investor 25 February 2021 15:36 PM

There are others like Canopy, too, I believe. It's a great idea, though, and more the merrier in terms of companies providing it. I've never understand how rent - the biggest outgoing for a large proportion of people - has previously not been considered good enough for credit reports and improving a credit rating. Makes absolutely no sense.

From: Algarve Investor 25 February 2021 15:32 PM

I think, in this case, much higher fines would have been warranted. Utterly idiotic and totally irresponsible. More to the point, who would want to be crammed in a house like that for a party at this juncture?

From: Algarve Investor 22 February 2021 13:47 PM

He is going to win. He's miles ahead in the polls, by more than 20 points in some cases, and that's even with no Rory Stewart to split the Tory vote or grab some wavering Labour voters. The Lib Dem candidate for this year's race is much less well-known than Siobhan Benita, and is likely to come in fourth place behind the Green's Sian Berry. I guess those who are anti-Khan need to ask themselves why the Tories have put up two such poor candidates against him. Goldsmith's electoral campaign was a total disaster and really quite nasty and dog-whistle in places, while putting up a Brexiteer in heavily Remain London was always going to be a disaster. London is now very much a Labour city and it was going to take an outstanding candidate to beat Khan, whose approval ratings are generally quite good. Shaun Bailey is not that candidate. There is even talk of him winning in the first round, without the need for second preference votes. That said, I don't think rent controls will be introduced in any meaningful way. He knows it's an easy vote-winner among London's many tenants, but he's been talking about it for many years and nothing has happened. He is hamstrung by the government, who as I understand it would need to sanction it, which is never going to happen.

From: Algarve Investor 18 February 2021 10:21 AM

It's ridiculous - everyone knows the ban is going to be extended, so what's taking them so long? It's like the quarantine hotels or the later lockdowns, everyone could see they were coming except seemingly the government. And they've been incredibly slow in announcing it. What are they waiting for? I imagine most landlords and agents have already accepted that they won't be able to evict for the next six months or so, maybe even the whole of this year, and have made contingency plans accordingly. Maybe we'll all be left shocked by there not being an extension, but I just can't see that happening. More decisiveness, like with the vaccine rollout, would be nice. Not this dithering and dilly-dallying for seemingly no good reason.

From: Algarve Investor 12 February 2021 09:42 AM

Haha! Reform UK which no-one's ever heard of, led by professional spiv and contrarian Farage, who has lost any relevance whatsoever since Trump lost power and Brexit happened. He'll be back, stirring the pot and attacking the woke, but only for his own ego, to get his name back in the papers, his face back on the TV and his voice on the radio. A man who couldn't even get elected in Thanet, a Brexit hotbed, has no chance of doing anything. He caved in to Boris at the last election, didn't he? He's a shameless opportunist and will do whatever is right for Farage. You can be sure he's got an EU passport through his kids or his ex-German wife. The world's biggest hypocrite is not the answer, not by a long chalk. You'd be better off getting behind Laurence Fox and whatever that entitled toff is calling his 'transformative' party these days. Woke is just a term chucked around by the likes of Fox and Farage for things they don't like. Like snowflake.

From: Algarve Investor 09 February 2021 10:07 AM

I should think most people are these days. Where we would have been without the NHS and the furlough scheme during this crisis? What are they if not elements of a welfare state?

From: Algarve Investor 08 February 2021 14:26 PM

@Andrew - nearly all students won't pay their loans back. It shows the folly of the system. It gets written off when you hit 50 or so and those who have stayed in education/academia aren't affected as far as I'm aware. Only a very few will pay back their loans, and that was before the £9,000 a year fees came in which makes it very unlikely many will pay their loans back in full, or even get halfway there. You only start paying back on your loan when you're earning a certain amount, and even then it's very little each month. Plus, in a lot of cases, the interest accrued is more than is coming out of a pay packet each month. It's a nonsense.

From: Algarve Investor 08 February 2021 14:24 PM

If you think all students, or even the majority, will be earning £100,000-£200,000 a year you couldn't be more wrong. The ones earning those salaries will be the exception, not the norm. For most, it will be a case of unpaid internships or highly competitive graduate schemes which don't always pay that well, or alternatively turning to teaching as a way in. The idea that every student walks into a high-paying job is nonsensical, I'm afraid.

From: Algarve Investor 08 February 2021 14:20 PM

Unlike the woman in charge of test and trace and formerly in charge of TalkTalk, you mean? I get the distinct impression she's a friend of the Tory right. There are clueless people on all sides of the political divide - unfortunately many of them often make it to the top. Definitely not a left/right issue.

From: Algarve Investor 03 February 2021 14:38 PM

This doesn't surprise me at all. The worst face of buy-to-let landlords in the UK. "He also said councillors normally accept that they take on “the very real potential that individuals will write and express abhorrent expressions.”" Well, that's OK then! What a bizarre defence. "Yeah, was me guv, but everyone's doing it." Landlords undoubtedly get a bad press, but it's because of people like the Wilsons that that is the case. I think we need to acknowledge there are bad and good landlords, just like there are bad and good tenants, and bad and good letting agents. However, they are usually in the minority. This guy is a modern-day Rachman.

From: Algarve Investor 03 February 2021 09:41 AM

Surely Rosindell's Bill, which is making its way through Parliament and very likely to succeed, is a bigger worry for landlords and agents? That will make it very difficult for landlords to refuse pets as standard - it will be an assumed right as long as they can prove they are responsible and so is the pet. I guess there's nothing stopping landlords charging higher rents, or demanding pet insurance, but will be interesting to see how it plays out if that Bill becomes law this year.

From: Algarve Investor 01 February 2021 10:12 AM

Are you responding to a different article? :)

From: Algarve Investor 29 January 2021 09:47 AM

I thought they changed this last year, but with no obligation for the landlord to actually use the model tenancy agreement? Has that now changed? Not clear from the above. Do landlords actually have to use the model tenancy contract/agreement? The changes are coming in anyway, with the current Bill making its way through Parliament, so maybe it is best for landlords to accept the new rules now, but I thought landlords would have at least another few months of autonomy over this issue.

From: Algarve Investor 29 January 2021 09:46 AM

Give me Ed Miliband any day over Alexander Boris de Pfeffel Johnson. Or, for that matter, the Environment Secretary, otherwise known as George 'Useless' Eustice - who entirely lives up to his nickname.

From: Algarve Investor 27 January 2021 12:01 PM

Given its record with Test and Trace, is it really a surprise? We're still waiting on details of Boris's flagship new housing schemes, so we can expect them at some point in 2024, if at all. The above scheme was rushed out far too quickly and is confused, poorly thought through and complicated. Would be interesting to know how many landlords have actually taken advantage of the scheme. I imagine the number is low, and will remain low in a year and a bit's time.

From: Algarve Investor 27 January 2021 10:00 AM

@Gordon Brown - yes, you're right, I am still bitter. We've all been made poorer (culturally, economically and on the global stage) as a result of Brexit and the thinnest of thin deals agreed in a panic so Boris could say he got Brexit done. We are in no way better off, unless you can point me to some examples. Everything is now much more difficult. Your namesake recognised Brexit for the disaster it was - more should have listened to him. We had a fantastic deal - our own currency, access to the single market and customs union, freedom to live, work and settle in 27 other countries, an opt-out and rebate, part of Erasmus and scientific and cultural institutions. There's plenty of vaccine nationalism at the moment, but it's important to note that many of the programmes were pan-European in nature. Was it perfect? No. Nothing ever is. But it was a damn sight better that what we have now. The first trade deal in history that put up barriers. Rotting fish and meat at borders. Businesses tearing their hair out at all the extra paperwork. Yes, holidays to Europe will be the same - although a couple of years down the line you might need a visa - but don't try and bring anything to or back from Europe without expecting checks. As the Dutch border guards who went viral said, it's because of 'the Brexit'. If you want to live or work in the EU, 10 times more difficult. If you want to retire there, much more difficult. So yes, I will always be bitter about Brexit and how a narrow vote in an advisory referendum took over the country and the political class, while the deal didn't take into account the millions of Remainers or those Leavers who hadn't voted to leave our biggest single trading place and partner. That wasn't on the ballot paper, was it? Maybe you could provide some real-life, tangible benefits to Brexit in the short, medium or even long-term?

From: Algarve Investor 26 January 2021 13:58 PM

Yes, many people don't seem to realise that Brexit has major consequences across all parts of life. I had to laugh at Sam Allardyce, a Leave voter, who was complaining that he couldn't sign players because of Brexit! And a British couple, who voted Leave and then moved to Spain, who were complaining about a lack of access to Sky TV post-Brexit. These are just the small things, there are many more larger and more devastating things that are badly affecting small businesses and even some larger ones. The extra paperwork, the extra costs to absorb. One of the reasons to leave the EU was excessive red tape and bureaucracy, but now we have more of it than ever! And all those in Dover who voted Brexit who are now unhappy at the place being turned into a massive lorry park. Again, you couldn't make it up! And I'm still yet to hear one advantage, one thing we can now do that we couldn't do, because of Brexit.

From: Algarve Investor 26 January 2021 11:48 AM

But it is now far more difficult to trade with Europe, to visit Europe (even once the pandemic subsides), to bring things back from Europe. We have literally cut off our nose to spite our face, by making links with our closest neighbour that much weaker. I hope people who still think they can go on booze cruises and easily take their pets on holiday, or retire abroad with ease, realise that none of these things are now the case. Yes, there probably will be bespoke arrangements eventually between the UK and places like Spain, France, Portugal, etc, but for now it's a total mess, as is being shown with disrupted supply lines and issues in NI. Even basic things like wanting to watch Amazon Prime, Now TV, Britbox or Netflix while on your holiday has become impossible or much more difficult. It's only because the major phone providers don't want to shoot themselves in the foot that they haven't brought back roaming tariffs, but there's no guarantee of that long-term. Everything is now much more difficult because of Brexit. I'd argue we have left Europe, sticking two fingers up to our neighbours, to get back mythical full control of our borders and seas. The fishermen have been sold out, SME businesses have been sold out, the financial services industry has even been sold out. And all for what? Blue passports? An unholy mess.

From: Algarve Investor 26 January 2021 11:44 AM

You keep saying this - in what way is coronavirus a scam? Do you not believe it's real? Do you think it's all conspiracy dreamt up by Jeff Bezos and Bill Gates? Is it something to do with 5G?

From: Algarve Investor 25 January 2021 11:15 AM

I think landlords and letting agents need to face the reality, and most probably already have, that they won't be able to evict for the rest of this year. And will find it very hard to claim back rental arrears, with so many protections in place, including the new Breathing Space scheme. Time to look for alternatives, for those who need to evict. Maybe landlords need to ask themselves do I need to evict or regain possession? How necessary is it? Can I sell with sitting tenants? Would be good to see the results of the mediation pilot - sounds like a good idea in practice. I also thought the NRLA's suggestion (?) that a new model is set-up to prevent the majority of eviction cases going to court was a sensible and shrewd one. Only the most severe cases should really be heading to court anyway, you would have thought, and I think the whole system - slow, cumbersome, frustrating, complicated - needs to be rethought and overhauled. Chucking the end of Section 21 and the introduction of lifetime deposits onto the fire doesn't seem like the most sensible decision at present, but that seems to be the government's intention.

From: Algarve Investor 25 January 2021 10:25 AM

From: Algarve Investor 20 January 2021 10:05 AM

Miss Jones!!! But, in all seriousness, this is a shocking state of affairs that needs to be clamped down upon by government, who as the commenter below has said have allowed this practice to thrive. Good to see papers actually campaigning on important issues like this, rather than the usual highly partisan stuff.

From: Algarve Investor 20 January 2021 10:05 AM

In the 70s, 80s and even 90s, people could buy a home - even in London! - without the help of the Bank of Mum and Dad, and without high, long-term mortgages. House prices weren't many times higher than salaries back then. The reason there is Help to Buy, and free stamp duty, is because it's much, much harder for a young person to get on the ladder now than it was 30 or 40 years ago. I don't think there is any argument over that. I know young people who have been saving for years, and still can't cobble together the £30k or £40k needed for a deposit. Nearly every young buyer will require the help of Mum and Dad, even if their parents are not super well-off, no matter how long they save. Of course, the promised new 95% mortgage scheme and New Homes scheme announced by Boris have all gone very quiet and remain very thin on detail.

From: Algarve Investor 04 January 2021 11:20 AM

A rare example of the Daily Mail doing something in the public good. Fair play to the paper. Shocking stuff, but what makes it more shocking is it's not surprising! No surprise that what we'd deem as respected people - such as an HMRC staff member and a former member of the RAF - were involved. There's this idea that if you're a member of the Armed Forces, you are automatically decent and heroic, which is total tosh of course. Of course, it's only a very small minority of wrong'uns - and most landlords are decent - but we do need to call these people out when they do wrong.

From: Algarve Investor 04 January 2021 10:14 AM

Your first sentence couldn't be anymore wrong, reductive or mad if it tried. In what way is corona a scam exactly? Are the millions of deaths a scam? Is it all a conspiracy involving 5G and Bill Gates' attempts to inject us with chips? Seriously, can you not see how ludicrous that sounds? As to your next point, you'll have to explain your working. In which way is climate change a con? Pretty much every eminent scientist in the world now agrees on global warming being man-made. I'd actually agree with your second comment, given some of the actions of ministers in recent times, but the first part is utter nonsense. The fact it has three likes is even more worrying.

From: Algarve Investor 10 December 2020 11:29 AM

How's that now? What was the alternative? Holding the elections during the peak of the virus? That would have been madness. Either way, with the polls as they were, he was getting back in whatever happened. Whether you like it or not, Sadiq Khan would have got back in as mayor by a landslide, with Bailey and Stewart splitting the Tory vote and the Lib Dem candidate not strong enough to take any Labour voters. London is a Labour and Remain stronghold, so it stands to reason that a Brexit-friendly Tory MP wouldn't have a chance there (as is the case with Bailey). The year delay is just delaying the inevitable. And I imagine he will only get a three-year term rather than a four-year term, so there won't be any difference.

From: Algarve Investor 19 November 2020 10:43 AM

Surely shining a light on landlords who do bad things is just as important as supporting those who do good? It is a bit tabloid-y, but it's certainly newsworthy and I for one am glad this man has been banned from operating in the financial services industry. Also shows the importance of effective regulation. It won't completely reduce the chances of someone like Horsey operating in the PRS - unfortunately eradicating rogues or criminals completely is never going to happen - but it would put many more barriers in his way.

From: Algarve Investor 09 November 2020 12:01 PM

Another hot air promise from Boris that won't be backed up in reality. See also Operation Moonshot, world-beating test and trace, etc. It seems to have been completely forgotten that Johnson announced the First Homes scheme earlier this year, another scheme for first-time buyers, which seems to have slipped under the radar again. That policy was equally thin on detail. Johnson had to come up with some grand-standing policy at the Tory conference and a surefire policy winner in recent years has been prioritising first-time buyers. He wanted his Help to Buy moment, or his Starter Homes moment. Putting aside the fact that Help to Buy has serious questions market against it, in terms of its long-term impact, and that Starter Homes never got started - with the Maybot failing dismally to get that scheme off the ground.

From: Algarve Investor 04 November 2020 11:53 AM

@Robert Brown - bikes over cars is a laudable venture, given the issues we have with air pollution - more important than ever as we're living with a deadly respiratory disease. A recent study of a scheme in Waltham Forest, I think, which really pushed for bikes over cars eventually won people around, with barely anyone wanting to return to the old ways of cars being prioritised over bikes. If we want to deal with the climate crisis - and we need to, as the disruption of it could be 10x that of Covid - we need to encourage walking and cycling as much as possible. Plus, from what I've read, there's been no evidence that the virus is spreading lots on public transport. While I agree with some of your points, I can't agree that a pro-bikes stance is a negative. Ditto encouraging more people to ditch their cars and walk.

From: Algarve Investor 28 October 2020 16:13 PM

@Luke Aaron, Farage hasn't even been able to be elected as an MP despite seven or eight attempts. He is a serial failure. He couldn't even win in Thanet, a real Brexiteer hotbed. He will never get close to being an MP, and we'll be all the better for it. Farage doesn't care about the man/woman on the street anymore than Boris. He's a Tory reject and a perennial contrarian. He still hasn't got over being an outcast at Dulwich College, one of the most prestigious private schools in the country. If you think Farage - Trump's mate and a serial failure at elections - is the answer, I dread to think what the question is.

From: Algarve Investor 07 October 2020 15:49 PM

What are British values exactly? These days it seems to be breaking international law when it suits and proroguing Parliament when you can't get your own way. And what does traditional British mean? There are plenty of rogue landlords with British/Anglo-Saxon sounding names, but on those stories there are no comments. Funny that.

From: Algarve Investor 02 October 2020 12:12 PM

In my experience, the biggest snowflakes are those who call others snowflakes. The likes of Morgan, Farage and Katie Hopkins who can give it out, but can't take it.

From: Algarve Investor 30 September 2020 12:44 PM

Good old sweeping generalisations. I'm not 'young' anymore, but I know some who are - and not all of them are Instagram millennials afraid of hard work or sacrifice. Just as all baby boomers aren't selfish, greedy, I'm alright Jack Brexiteers. In the 80s and 90s, you could afford a house in London - London! - with a fairly low deposit. Houses could be purchased in the capital for £100k or less. What would you get for £100k in London now - a shed, a garage, a small patch of land? Houses prices were 2x the average salary, now they're something like 10x. It's almost impossible for young people to afford a home in London or the South East without parental support or inheritance. That wasn't the case 20 or 30 years ago. Even in the early 2000s, house prices in the UK weren't at the stratospheric levels they are now. I know of more middle-aged people who indulge in avocado on toast, flat white coffees and the high life than younger people, who are having their life chances disrupted by Covid, Brexit, a dreadful, insecure jobs market and an incompetent government. They can't even enjoy uni at the moment. If expecting semi-affordable housing and not a lifetime of renting in substandard accommodation is being entitled, then we should all be entitled. Young people don't have it easy, far from it, and plenty are willing to work hard. Even then, why should people have to work ridiculously hard and sacrifice everything just to get on the housing ladder?

From: Algarve Investor 30 September 2020 12:43 PM

Alternatively, almost 50,000 dead (and that's at the lower end of the estimates) in the space of six months, and many more suffering long-term health issues. I agree that the response needs to be balanced and that most people won't be badly affected by the disease, but it shouldn't be underestimated. It's a very dangerous virus still which spreads like wildfire, and killed many more people than a normal flu season. It should be taken seriously, as it wasn't before, and we shouldn't be complacent. That said, the response to a second wave has been shocking. Still no functional test and trace system, an app that has only just come in and doesn't seem to work that well, sending students back and not expecting cases to spike, the arbitrary 10pm curfew which seems to be based on little, a confused quarantine system, draconian new laws introduced without MPs or the police on side. There has to be a balance, between the conspiracy theorists who think it's all a hoax to infect us with 5G and the rabid anti-lockdowners, and those calling for blanket lockdowns which don't solve the issue at hand and are only ever a short-term fix.

From: Algarve Investor 29 September 2020 09:34 AM

People seem to misunderstand what free speech actually means. It doesn't mean you can say whatever you like, regardless of whether it causes offence. That's not how free speech works. If you say something racist, slanderous, libellous, homophobic or sexist, you could be fined, reprimanded or even taken to court. You might not think it is offensive, libellous, sexist or racist, but if someone else does - and the law of the land agrees - you are banged to rights.

From: Algarve Investor 31 July 2020 15:08 PM

Before I concentrated on investing in overseas property, I dabbled in property investment in the UK but was luckily warned of the potential pratfalls and complications of buying a leasehold home. Seems I was guided in the right direction given the horror stories you regularly read in the press about people stuck in homes that are impossible to sell, with ground rents doubling every 10 years. Ridiculous that the government is still selling new-build homes as leasehold and that a quarter of homes sold through Help to Buy are also leasehold - on the one hand they say they are serious about tackling the leasehold crisis, on the other they continue to sell homes which are leasehold! Anyway, here's my question for Heather Wheeler. "Why are any homes being sold as leasehold in the UK? In the past, flats were leasehold and houses were freehold, but in recent years we've seen an increasing number of houses being sold on a leasehold basis - including in the government's own flagship Help to Buy scheme. Why has there been an increase in houses being sold in this way and what is the government doing to prevent it?"

From: Algarve Investor 30 April 2019 12:59 PM

Haha! The only league Arsenal will be topping anytime soon. Sadly, as a Spurs fan, this is the only league where we'll end up in the top 4.

From: Algarve Investor 18 June 2015 10:43 AM

All good ideas, but let's see if anything is actually done to root out the problem this time. I won't hold my breath.

From: Algarve Investor 27 May 2015 10:24 AM

"a low-paid job is clearly better than no job at all, and this has had a massive effect on tenant finances as a whole" Is it? If that job is so low-paid it has to be topped up with in-work benefits, I wouldn't say it was any better at all. Pay people more money - a living wage not a minimum wage - and people might be able to start paying their rent. Also, what's not talked about much by landlords is how much rental prices have gone up in recent years. Increased demand, because people can't afford to buy, and not enough supply to meet this demand has pushed rental prices up considerably, particularly in London. In the capital you'll be paying at least £600 a month for somewhere that isn't a complete hovel - that's just insane. Even people with decent jobs would see a significant portion of their monthly income go straight out on rent. It's easy to see why people are disenfranchised with landlords, isn't it? Obviously, there is good and bad on both sides, but I'm a bit fed up of landlords looking to heap all the blame on tenants. From people I know who own properties in socially deprived areas, their outlook doesn't tally with the outlook I read on here. This is the problem with the whole benefit scrounger rhetoric - it causes deep divisions.

From: Algarve Investor 21 May 2015 10:48 AM

I disagree with you in the strongest terms. Yes, Shelter have an agenda to push and have been known to exaggerate things in the past. But are you honestly saying that all of those 11,307 people spent all their rent money on fags, booze and Sky TV. You seem to have bought into this strivers vs skivers lie, where everyone who is poor is a workshy scrounger. It's such a load of old cobblers it's not even true. These stats are shocking and should be treated as such. In some cases there will be justifiable reasons, but in many cases there won't be. It's this defensive, closed ranks mentality some landlords seem to have that gives them such a bad name.

From: Algarve Investor 18 May 2015 10:15 AM

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