JimSmith

It's the daytime offpeak and the Saturday service that is chnaging not the peak service.

Yes its happening the new timetable is up on the Southern website, the daytime service is being reduced to 4 trains an hour adn we're losing our connections to Gatwick Airport. Seriouly annoying as they seem to have really sneaked this through. I've already fired off an e-mail to Tessa Jowell and I would suggest everyone else does the same.

Agree totally quids we have a 'perfect storm' as far as London property prices are concerned. Tightening lending criteria both in terms of both multiples of salary and LTV, recession in the UK led by the City, huge personal debt with servicing costs increasing, tax to rise in the medium term and the outlook on the pound is not going to attract international buyers.

Agree Ritzy in Brixton is the best locally, has a nice bar as well. Alternatively for the multiplex experience the place at the dome is fairly easy to reach from here.

I wasn't suggesting that you could buy one for that at the moment but that it would represent 'fair' value. Of course rents rising can make up part of the difference but looking on Rightmove suggests around a 30-35% fall would be close to the mark (less if you consider few places are reaching their asking price at the moment).

Firstly I'm agaisnt second home ownership, but it should be pointed out that the number of second homes is that significant in the context of the whole of the UK. I've seen figures from 80,000 to 350,000 quoted although obviously they are concentrated in particular areas of the country - Cornwall, Devon, North Norfolk, Central London. However they have become a sort of symbol of the discontent caused by often much wider social changes. The huge numbers of long distance commuters, the switch away from agriculture and manufacturing towards office work, a much more mobile population and communities becoming less mixed are far more significant but less visible causes of things like the loss of the post office and young people moving away.

Just over ?160,000 assuming a rent of ?950 for a one bedroom place.

My reckoning is at least two more years of falling prices possibly longer, house prices have to return to some sort pf sensible relationship with earnings in an environment without free credit. Rental yields are always a good indication with the long term average being around 7-9%, they are substantially lower than that at the moment. The economy is also beginning to seriously falter. Without sufficient cash its not demand just want. Cutting rates won't provide much comfort for mortgage rates, as AcedOut mentions they are pricing in the risk associated with the credit binge of the last few years, collateral effects tend to make cycles in the housing market more severe. Cutting rates will also lose all credibility the BOE has built up over the last ten years on inflation, not sure the rest of the populace should effectively bail out those who overstretched themselves.

Yeah second that Coriander is very good don't be put off.

Thats 10k less than it sold for in late 2004, certainly shows the direction the market is heading in.

185 tends to be variable in rush hour both in terms of journey time to Vauxhall and frequency as Brendan says up to 40 mins once your on). Jumping on any bus and changing at Camberwell is a bit more hassle/cost but speeds things up.

Another option I use is the 185 to Oval and make my way up from there, outside rush hour tends to be quicker than bus to E & C. Depends on your walk to the E. Dulwich station whether train or bus is quicker.

Our health outcomes are relatively cost efficent in comparison with the rest of the world, we spend only 7.7% of GDP on health(public and private) by comparison in France they spend 10.1%, in Germany 11.1% and the US 15% if we want instant access to a doctor for non emergency complaints then we need to pay alot more whether that is privately or through taxation, personally I'd rather keep it cheaper and know that with anything life threatening I'll be seen to (as happened once before).

Andy Ng, I'll explain the drop in houseprices being beneficial to a homeowner. You are right extra equity in the home means a larger deposit for the next purchase. However if you want to trade up say for example from a 200k flat to a 400k house and prices rise by 20% you will have made 40k of equity but the house will now be 80k more expensive i.e. you are 40k + the cost of borrowing that 40k worse off. Of course the situation is reversed if you are trading down. I'm not as pessimistic as iBilly on the prospects of the UK economy generally but I do feel that a house price correction is inevitable, two things indicate this firstly the cost of buying and renting are seriously out of line traditionally you paid a premium to rent for the freedom and maintenance issues at the present time renting is considerably cheaper than buying on an interest only basis for most properties. Secondly prices have been inflated through easy credit 100+% mortagages and BTL mortgages at only 80% LTV this looks like it has come to an end.

Would be gutted to see Somerfield dissapear since I moved here very freindly staff and great offers (specially booze), fairly good stock range, ideal as a neighbourhood top up (or even our whole weeks shop if we don't want that much). M & S would just bring more overpriced overpackaged rubbish and Waitrose would be more likely to threaten the excellent range of independent shops we have.