“The flat-sharing site SpareRoom.com has revealed it has 100,000 clients in their late 40s and early 50s on its books, and 35,000 customers in their late 50s and early 60s.
I was not surprised to learn that older tenants are rising in number: many older house-hunters might be unable to get a mortgage due to their age, with renting the only option.”
“East Devon District Council (EDDC) is proposing to designate the whole district as a ‘consent street’ – overturning the wide-spread prohibition.
It says the new approach would improve flexibility and pave the way for farmers’ markets or Christmas events, but town councillors are reluctant to hand over control.
Representing Sidmouth Chamber of Commerce, Richard Eley told Monday’s tourism and economy committee meeting: “Our concern is this is opening the door for a free-for-all for all kinds of stalls and vans in the streets of Sidmouth.
“We think too much power is being handed over. There’s also a distinct possibility of unfair competition – they won’t be paying rent or rates.”
He said if the rules had been relaxed last year, EDDC would have found it difficult to resist proposals for a coffee van on Sidmouth beach.
Councillor Ian Barlow added: “We shouldn’t be scared of it if we have control, but if we have no control, we should be very worried.”
But district councillor Frances Newth defended the proposals, saying: “Each application will be considered on its own merits. I don’t see it as a free-for-all, but as prevention of a free-for-all.”
The full council will consider the proposals on July 4.”
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/relaxing_street_trading_rules_fears_of_a_free_for_all_in_sidmouth_1_4582237
A site that gives information and answers:
“The Electoral Commission is investigating. So too, are more than a dozen police forces. So far 21 local constabularies have been granted an extra year by magistrates to complete their investigations. So while we wait to hear back from the Met there are still a number of questions that need to be answered.”
“Britain has half as many hospital beds for its population as Romania, leading doctors have said, amid warnings that NHS trusts are “bulging at the seams”.
Consultants said bed shortages meant they could only do only a third of the operations they were able to carry out in the 1960s.
Doctors at British Medical Association (BMA)’s annual meeting said patients were being harmed by cuts which have left Britain with far fewer beds than almost every country in Europe.
They called for an “urgent re-evaluation” of bed numbers, amid fears that plans to tackle a spiralling deficit could endanger patients further.
Dr Mary McCarthy, a GP from Shropshire, said hospital bed numbers had been “steadily eroded” without the corresponding increase in help to support people in their own homes.
She said: “The UK has less than 300 beds per 100,000 population and in Shropshire, where I am, it’s less than 200.”
Speaking to the conference in Belfast, she said: “In the Irish Republic a few miles south of here it’s about 500, in Belgium it’s over 650, in France it’s over 700, in Germany it’s over 800, in Austria it’s over 700, in Romania it’s over 600.
“Do we really need to keep cutting beds? Are we not finding that our hospitals are bulging at the seams with people who should be there but are discharged home too early and unsafely?” she asked fellow doctors.
Dr Michael Hardingham, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, from Cheltenham, said: “I have been working long enough to remember that working in the 1960s … I did at least twice as many cases in a day’s work – possibly three times – and this is largely due to difficulties with beds.”
‘Patients are being harmed because they are being sent home as there are no beds available’
Dr Michael Hardingham, an ear, nose and throat surgeon, from Cheltenham
“The recovery wards get blocked up because they can’t move people out into the hospital beds, and so patients who have been booked just have to be sent home,” he warned.
Doctors said children and families often had to travel long distances to find a paediatric bed, while hospitals were repeatedly diverting patients, after declaring a “black alert”.
“Patients are being harmed because they are being sent home as there are no beds available,” the doctor warned.
A motion calling for the dwindling numbers of beds to be “urgently re-evaluated” was passed with an overwhelming majority.
Dr Mark Porter, BMA Council chairman, suggested the NHS was taking too many risks in paring back bed numbers, with average bed occupancy now above safe levels.
“If average bed occupancy goes up above about 85 per cent there can be a rise in the risk of cross infection between patients, and it is less likely that an appropriate bed will be available for acute patients as they come in,” he said.
“While this policy might make sense if you are looking for short term cuts, it can have serious implications for quality and cost of care in the longer term. We need to carefully monitor the number of beds available and ensure that we are putting patients first when it comes to deciding how many beds are available in the NHS.”
NHS figures show the number of beds available each day has dropped from more than 144,000 in 2010/11 to less than 132,000 in 2014/15.
Earlier, Dr Porter said that claims being made by the Vote Leave camp were “farsical and fatuous.”
Katherine Murphy, chief executive of the Patients Association said: “At the very heart of the NHS is the ability to treat patients in a professional, caring and dignified manner. We can’t do this if we are unable to provide patients with hospital beds.
“Clearly there is an urgent need to address the funding issues that plague our NHS, as it is ultimately patients who end up suffering due to lack of proper investment,” she added.
Mike Adamson, British Red Cross chief executive said: “Increasing more beds alone will not help solve this problem. This country is facing a social care crisis. Without the proper care systems in place to return people home, thousands of patients will continue to be stuck in limbo.
“No one chooses to be stuck on a hospital bed when they could be in their own homes, rebuilding their lives. The Government has already set aside funds to be invested in health and social care. However, the bulk of this money won’t be available for another two years. These funds are needed now – to support people who are currently stranded in hospital due to the gap in care provision and to help prevent thousands from being admitted to hospital in the first place.”
A spokesperson for NHS England said: “It is important that patients receive the right care, in the right place, at the right time. The hospital is not a home and we know that, when given the choice, patients often prefer to receive care as close to their home as possible.
“It is for local NHS leaders to determine the best mix of care for the populations they serve – they will rightly consider community and home care as well as hospital beds.”
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2016/06/20/nhs-has-fewer-beds-per-head-than-romania-doctors-warn/
“Letter in Guildford Dragon from Lib Dem ward councillor for Friary & St Nicolas
I have seen and heard comments that we Guildford Borough Counci], as an authority, are not filling places in some of the town centre residential developments, in particular the Barratt’s site in Walnut Tree Close, and implying that we therefore don’t have an urgent need for housing.
There are reasons why these newly built flats are taking time to fill.
Firstly, it is normal to phase the letting of properties in new developments simply for logistical reasons. There are 20 rented one bedroom flats in the development that are classified as “affordable” and let at what is referred to as “affordable rents”.
Affordable rents are normally 80% of a market rent or may be set at the equivalent Local Housing Allowance rate (Housing Benefit rate) if this is lower, which means the rents are currently some 40% higher than equivalent town centre council owned one-bedroomed flats.
The term “affordable” is a misrepresentation. Although lower than the market rent, these flats are beyond the reach of many with a regular but not highly paid job.
Additionally, new welfare reforms also affect younger single people and have made these flats unsuitable for those that will be under the age of 35 on April 1st 2018, as, after that date, any new tenants will only be entitled to less than 50% of the housing benefit than they can claim at present.
Given that over half of our single housing applicants are under 35, they would not be able to afford to live at this development.
The affordability issue means all those that have expressed interest in the flats have been subject to financial assessments to ensure that they can afford the rents and council tax as well as meet their day to day living expenses without getting into financial difficulty in the future.
Sadly it has been shown that although there are very many housing applicants that would love to live in these properties, they simply cannot afford to do so.
In a new development such as this it is right that the council spend time getting a good mix of tenants, and more importantly ensure that they can afford to meet the rent and other living.
The fact that it is taking time does not mean that there’s no urgent need for housing across the whole borough.”
“The Sir John Cave-owned site, east of the A375, is currently undeveloped agricultural land and part of an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB), but Fords’ application says there were no ‘realistic alternatives’ close to Sidmouth.”
http://www.sidmouthherald.co.uk/news/damning_response_to_sidford_business_park_plans_1_4582231
“Vice Lord-Lieutenant – Sir John Cave Bt DL……..lives in East Devon near Sidmouth, educated at Eton and RAC Cirencester. A farmer and landowner managing an agricultural estate comprising in hand arable farm, let farms, commercial and amenity woodland and residential property. In the past has been the Chairman of Council of Devon County Agricultural Association and was President in 2009, a Governor of Bicton College and RASE Council Member for Devon.
Past Chairman & President CLA Devon Branch and nationally sat on both Agriculture & Land Use and Policy Committees, past Chairman of the South West Regional committee. Previously a Trustee of FACE and is a Director of Mole Avon Trading Ltd. Sir John holds public appointment as a member of Agricultural Land & Drainage Tribunal, is a Vice-President Devon YFC, President Devon Association of Local Councils. He was High Sheriff of Devon in 2005.”
Sir John was former landlord of East Devon MP Hugo Swire when he lived in East Devon, though now Mr Swire chooses to maintain his second home in Mid-Devon.
The Agricultural and Land Drainage Tribunal
“What cases you can take to the tribunal
You can apply to the tribunal if you want to:
take over a tenancy when a close relative retires or dies
get consent for a notice to quit served on a tenant
ask a neighbour to clear ditches or carry out drainage work on their land
You can also apply for the tribunal to:
issue a certificate of bad husbandry if the tenant isn’t farming the land properly
order the landlord to provide or repair fixed equipment”
https://www.gov.uk/guidance/agricultural-land-and-drainage-disputes-apply-to-a-tribunal
“One-in-four investors from Gulf states intending to buy property in London plan purely to gain from rising prices without living there, according to research among wealthy people seen by the Guardian.
Concerns have been raised over “buy to leave” properties, which are often owned by overseas buyers who do not use them for much of the year. In May, the Guardian revealed that 184 of the 214 apartments in the luxury central London development the Tower did not have anyone registered to vote and that almost two-thirds of the properties were owned by overseas buyers. The new mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has spoken out about buyers who use homes in the capital as “gold bricks for investment”. …
… A quarter of those who said they planned to buy a property in London said they were targeting capital gains rather than looking for somewhere to live or let out, while 22% said they were planning to buy to let.”
East Devon Watch 