GBP to THB Exchange Rate

[chiang mai]

I recently transferred a sum of money from UK and I seem to have lost a lot more on the transaction than I was expecting. I realise there is a spread every day i.e. a different rate for buying and selling, so using the XE foreign exchange website presumably isn't much of an indicator because that gives you the average conversion rate? But is there any where I can find out what the buying rate and selling rate was on the day that the bank transferred the money to me ?

Go to oanda.com and you'll see rates for each currency exchange, bid, offer and midpoint - also, did you make the conversion in Thailand on recipet of funds here or did you have your UK bank make the conversion? If the latter you will loose big time, always make the conversion here where the spread is small.

[Naam]

I recently transferred a sum of money from UK and I seem to have lost a lot more on the transaction than I was expecting. I realise there is a spread every day i.e. a different rate for buying and selling, so using the XE foreign exchange website presumably isn't much of an indicator because that gives you the average conversion rate? But is there any where I can find out what the buying rate and selling rate was on the day that the bank transferred the money to me ?

Go to oanda.com and you'll see rates for each currency exchange, bid, offer and midpoint - also, did you make the conversion in Thailand on recipet of funds here or did you have your UK bank make the conversion? If the latter you will loose big time, always make the conversion here where the spread is small.

you don't lose always big time when transferring Baht from Singapore or Hong Kong. Oanda and xe.com are of no help because their rates differ from the buying rate of the individual Thai bank. and even Thai bank rates can fluctuate dozens of time in a single day.

Oanda quotes bid/ask 29.690/ 29.790 whereas SCB shows a bid of 29.60

xe shows a midrate (mix bid/ask) = completely useless, presently 29.7154

Edited May 15, 2013 by Naam

[mccw]

http://www.bangkokbank.com/BangkokBank/WebServices/Rates/Pages/FX_Rates.aspx

Bangkok bank rate. You can call them from abroad and say to hold the sterling and email you when it arrive (but I'm just call them everyday around when it should turn up). You can then negotiate a few stang better rate from the above published rate on the day or gamble / hold up to 1 week for hoping the rate will improve/ set a target rate. If it doesn't achieve target at end of week can either pay a 1000bht fee to hold up to another month or just convert at the rate on that last day.

I'm just about to do this negotiate next week on 100k; they say I can expect up to 8 stang on top of the rate "depending" (on what I don't know) but for the sake of a call its worth doing. Personally I will most probably just change on the day it arrives.

[mccw]

45 + I'm be happy with

[mccw]

After re doing house purchase calcs at 40-43 to be on the safe side , a 45 exchange rate feels like a welcome bonus

[mccw]

The new banking regulator is playing a leading role in recruiting a new boss for the Co-operative's banking arm following its shock ratings downgrade last week.

I have learnt that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the recently-established arm of the Bank of England with responsibility for the health of the financial system, has been consulting major British lenders in recent days to help it to assess the suitability of potential candidates to run the Co-op Bank.

People close to the regulator said it wanted to help accelerate the appointment of an experienced banker as the Co-op Bank's new boss amid suggestions by City analysts that it could be facing a capital shortfall as high as £1.8bn.

- from sky news app

Seems the problem/ hole ha amount has almost doubled + gone from saying no help needed to the gov regulator running around looking for anew boss for them; surely this would be a job for the company, unless they had already received some behind screens help maybe and now need to take orders on who should be running them?

[OJAS]

The new banking regulator is playing a leading role in recruiting a new boss for the Co-operative's banking arm following its shock ratings downgrade last week.

I have learnt that the Prudential Regulation Authority (PRA), the recently-established arm of the Bank of England with responsibility for the health of the financial system, has been consulting major British lenders in recent days to help it to assess the suitability of potential candidates to run the Co-op Bank.

People close to the regulator said it wanted to help accelerate the appointment of an experienced banker as the Co-op Bank's new boss amid suggestions by City analysts that it could be facing a capital shortfall as high as £1.8bn.

- from sky news app

Seems the problem/ hole ha amount has almost doubled + gone from saying no help needed to the gov regulator running around looking for anew boss for them; surely this would be a job for the company, unless they had already received some behind screens help maybe and now need to take orders on who should be running them?

Thanks for the update. Looks like a case of watch this space (or, more appropriately, mailbox) for me, then. If another UK bank takes on Co-op Bank's accounts, I only hope that I will still be able to retain my UK account despite now living in Thailand (I gather that it is the policy of some UK banks to restrict account-holders to individuals living in the UK).

Co-op Bank's troubles appear to have stemmed from their takeover of the Britannia Building Society in 2009. This has clearly proved to be one step too far for them, and the pigeons are now coming home to roost.

[mccw]

So... Long term pound going down then:

Alyson Shontell/Business Insider

HSBC’s chief global economist has written a compelling but dark account of the challenges facing the West. Philip Aldrick considers the chilling claims.

Bleak does not begin to describe the latest tome on the economic crisis by Stephen King, the HSBC chief global economist who appropriately shares a name with the best-selling horror writer.

When the Money Runs Out is the economic equivalent of post-apocalyptic fiction, charting “the end of Western affluence”, and gives the author of The Shining a run for his money when it comes to filling readers with dread.

Published this week, the chapter headings alone are enough to make you tremble; The Pain of Stagnation, From Economic Disappointment to Political Instability, Dystopia.

If anyone in Britain was labouring under the misapprehension that 0.3pc GDP growth in the first quarter of the year and signs of a manufacturing revival were something to cheer – and that includes the other King, Bank of England Governor Sir Mervyn – HSBC’s King puts them right.

The Telegraph

Those aren’t green shoots, they are “bumps along bottom”. The country has just completed one “lost decade”, measured on growth per person, he says, and is about to enter a second.

King is what his friends describe as a “happy pessimist”. It’s easy to see why. The piano-playing 49-year-old’s demeanour is as perky as his electric-shock hair. But his message is resolutely sackcloth and ashes. His prescription for the UK, like much of the West, is painful reform, and lots of it.

Like all determined pessimists, though, King rejects the label. “I would call myself a realist who doesn’t peddle quick-fix solutions that won’t work,” he says. Those quick-fix fantasists, he claims, come from both sides of the austerity versus stimulus debate that dominates the current economic conversation.

The mistake they make, he says with unapologetic gloom, is believing there is a route back to robust growth. “The problem with the merchants of stimulus and the merchants of austerity is that the majority have the same underlying belief that the economy is going to rebound rather quickly.

“They just have very different views of how to get there. My concern is that both those sets of beliefs are a bit too optimistic about the nature and speed of the recovery.”

Britain’s big problem, which it shares with the rest of the West, is that it will not be able to grow at a pace that will allow it to afford the commitments made to its people, King says. That simple observation is at the heart of his warning about the decline lying in store for the world’s advanced nations.

“What if our financial wealth has been accumulated on the back of a delusion? What if political promises – even those made in good faith – can no longer be met? How should we cope with the subsequent disappointment?” he asks rhetorically.

His answers are uncomfortable ones. Promises will have to be broken and expectations lowered. Weak growth will mean less prosperity to go round. People will be stripped of their “entitlements”. An introverted politics of envy will stir, resulting in pressure for greater equality and an attack on the rich. Society may fray as protectionism replaces globalisation and an ugly xenophobia rears up again.

It will be a time for bold, honest politics, King says. Sadly, history is littered with tales of the reverse.

King is not alone in his view that Britain will grow more slowly than in the past. Sir John Gieve, a former deputy governor of the Bank, has suggested a sustainable rate of growth in the UK may now be 1.25pc – half the pre-crisis level. Andrew Sentance, a former member of the Bank’s rate-setting Monetary Policy Committee, has called weak growth the “new normal”.

In hailing “a modest and sustained recovery” last week, even Sir Mervyn warned that the economy would remain “weak by historic standards”. Britain, to use the Chancellor’s words in a speech to the CBI last Wednesday, is still grappling with the “worst economic inheritance any modern government has faced”.

For King, the fervent belief that the UK will somehow return to 2pc to 2.3pc annual growth is “an inappropriate extrapolation of past trends”. He goes so far as to question whether official statistics for the past decade told the real story: “The underlying growth rate was soft” and was masked by a debt binge of unprecedented proportions.

Britain may be growing again, just not fast enough to pay for the accumulated promises of the past. For King, the big question is: how does the country deal with the sense of decline as those entitlements are withdrawn?

Difficult decisions are now unavoidable. George Osborne may believe he has already faced up to the hard truths – with his austerity programme and reforms such as raising the retirement age – but he has barely scratched the surface. “The need for some kind of reform is that much greater than has been admitted so far,” King argues.

Even on official forecasts for UK growth, which he says are “optimistic”, there is “a permanent loss in activity relative to what people had assumed”.

“The problem arises when you discover that, out of the total sum of income, there are commitments that have to be met. In which case there is less money to spend on other areas.”

The ring-fenced budgets are a clear example. Health, pensions, education and overseas aid are protected, which means other departments face excessively deep cuts. So much so, in fact, that reports last week suggested angry ministers have found less than a quarter of the £11.5bn savings demanded of them.

The same holds for the economy as a whole, King says. “What happens is that because people have already decided to spend their future income before it arrives, then you have a social and political problem.”

In suitably apocalyptic terms, he draws comparisons with the run-up to the French Revolution, the Peasants’ Revolt of 1381, and the austerity of the 1920s. As entitlements are withdrawn – and King lumps “executive pay” and bankers’ bonuses alongside welfare dependency – the country will face social upheaval.

“The US and UK have very high levels of income inequality and the problem in stagnant economies is that the only way you can make the majority better off is to seize funds from the minority, which is where you get into wealth taxes,” he says. “That takes you back to problems of the late 1960s and 1970s. You get into a fight over the limited resources, as resources aren’t growing enough.”

From there, he warns, the economy can quickly spiral downwards as large redistribution “tends to dampen down entrepreneurial and creative risk taking”.

There is no escaping the denouement, King says. But we can “extend and pretend”, as they say in high finance. The economic version has been quantitative easing (QE) and near-zero interest rates. To delay the inevitable, Western nations have become “stimulus junkies”, King warns.

“These policies started off as being the equivalent of powerful antibiotics to make the patient better quickly. They’ve morphed into addictive painkillers. We’re on them and we don’t really want to face the cold turkey of coming off those painkillers. But as with many painkillers there are side-effects.”

King is in no doubt that QE saved the West from a great depression. But the longer it has gone on, the more distorting its effect has become. Money printing now has more impact on “wealth redistribution than lifting the economy”, he argues. By contributing to higher inflation, it has “helped to squeeze real wages but has benefited those who are asset rich”.

In other words, QE has acted like a “regressive tax” – punishing the poor and enriching the wealthy. It has also damaged business investment by punching a deeper hole in struggling pension schemes. “We’re in this bizarre situation where teachers are being fired to pay for the pensions of teachers who are no longer working,” he observes.

Both of King’s points have been conceded by the Bank, though in less inflammatory terms.

So, why persist with QE? “Stimulus policies have allowed politicians to live in a fantasy world,” he explains. “QE allows governments to live with a high level of debt.”

King’s analysis of the West’s problems is uncompromising. But he does find room for some possible solutions. Unfortunately, “none of them is particularly attractive”, he admits.

First, the UK needs growth. And greater equality could help. “This is not a party political point,” King says. “It’s an economic one. The financially asset-rich have a lower propensity to consume.”

The argument has it that the rich tuck money away in Asian tracker funds that would otherwise have been spent down the shops – in the real economy – by the less well-off.

It is a point advocated by those who have risen to the top. Sir Martin Sorrell, WPP chief executive, has warned: “The concentration of wealth is a serious issue.”

An extension of the argument is King’s call for “some kind of social contract” to help younger generations. At present, policy is set to “protect things for the baby boomers” – a group he calls in his book “the selfish generation” that “had their cake and made sure they could eat it, too”.

Protecting their entitlements strips the country of “investment for tomorrow”, he says. Commitments on infrastructure and education are vital, even if it means tearing down the ring-fence around health and certain pensioner benefits. It is in the boomers’ own interests, he claims.

If all the economic restructuring is lumped on the young in higher taxes and worse public services, there will be a “mass exodus” that will make it even harder to keep the boomers in clover.

An analysis by the respected Institute for Fiscal Studies shows that “pensioner households” have been least affected by austerity while working-age “households with children” are hardest hit. King, by the way, is a post-boomer himself, at 49.

Boosting UK exports is also vital, he says. A recovery in the eurozone would do wonders, but in the fast-growing emerging markets Britain has a lot of work to do. To illustrate his point, King recounts an exchange with a Chinese colleague on one of his world tours. Asked for her impression of UK trade, she said: “What do you export?” King quipped: “It looks like we have an image problem.”

In essence, his prescription is Osborne’s strategy – reformed and on steroids. One of King’s more radical proposals is to move the Bank to a nominal GDP target, as first floated last year by the incoming Governor, Mark Carney, a man hand-picked by the Chancellor.

As any economist will testify, getting nominal growth going is vital if a heavily indebted country – like the UK – is to escape its debts, even if a large slug of that growth is simply inflation. Which explains why King would not unwind QE despite his objection to its “side-effects”.

“One tried and tested mechanism [of reducing debt] is inflation, as it redistributes from creditors to debtors,” he says. QE keeps government borrowing costs below inflation, ensuring that it’s only the creditors who suffer. It’s what’s known as “financial repression”.

The catch-22, though, is that inflation will depress household incomes, which will lower growth. Resolving that will be one of Carney’s many conundrums, King says. And he does not envy the Canadian’s task.

The latest big hope for monetary policy is Carney’s idea of “guidance” – a promise to keep rates low until unemployment or some other measure has hit a pre-defined level. But, with rates already expected to be unchanged until late 2016, King says “it’s not likely to have much of an impact”.

Carney’s bigger problem, he believes, is that “he’s managed to end up with this image of being like a monetary superman”. “And when he gets to Britain he may discover there are large amounts of kryptonite that will actually reduce his powers quite significantly.”

Carney has already acknowledged he’s coming to where the “challenges are greatest”. And, in the early bloom of economic optimism, King’s clear-sighted and highly readable book is a timely reminder of just how challenging Britain’s problems still are.

- from biz insider app

[MrWorldwide]

Surprised that our tabloid media hasnt leapt on this terminology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession

No question that media all over the world seem to avoid the 'D word like the plague, but in countries where youth unemployment is over 60%, and hows no sign of improving despite repeated bailout packages, I dont see how it can be anything else.

[mccw]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22605884

[yoshiwara]

Surprised that our tabloid media hasnt leapt on this terminology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession

No question that media all over the world seem to avoid the 'D word like the plague, but in countries where youth unemployment is over 60%, and hows no sign of improving despite repeated bailout packages, I dont see how it can be anything else.

That's right, you don't see.

[midas]

Surprised that our tabloid media hasnt leapt on this terminology:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Great_Recession

No question that media all over the world seem to avoid the 'D word like the plague, but in countries where youth unemployment is over 60%, and hows no sign of improving despite repeated bailout packages, I dont see how it can be anything else.

That's right, you don't see.

you are the one that doesn't see because you're a debt junkie

[yoshiwara]

So... Long term pound going down then:

Alyson Shontell/Business Insider

HSBC’s chief global economist has written a compelling but dark account of the challenges facing the West. Philip Aldrick considers the chilling claims.

......

All those wallow in the gloom articles are good for the miserable set but in practical terms it boils down to what one does with assets held in the UK. If one thinks the pound is headed for a big and decisive lurch downwards then get on with it and liquidate out and lets have a discussion about that rather than the usual mood music merely used to gee up the 'buy gold' crowd (you know the ones currently sitting around with egg down their shirts). Edited May 22, 2013 by yoshiwara

[mccw]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

[wooloomooloo]

All systems go today. We left MIL with a wad of sterling on our last visit to LOS back in February and she's sat on it awaiting a small f/x recovery and took the dizzy height of 45.87 at Bangkok Bank this afternoon with strict instructions to change to baht cash first then deposit baht to her bank account.

Glad to report all ran smoothly.

[AyG]

From sky news app-

"""""The Co-operative has insisted its bank did not require government support after a ratings agency warned it may need a taxpayer bailout.

In a message to reassure customers and members, the Co-op said "we haven't sought nor do we need government support" and insisted it was taking action to strengthen its bank's balance sheet.

On Thursday night rating agency Moody's dropped the Co-op Bank's investment grade rating to "junk" status at E+, down from C-.

Just hour later the lender's chief executive Barry Tootell resigned.""""""

no such ratings like "E+" and "C-" exist. the lowest rating Moody's "awards" is "C" equivalent to S&P's "D" and Fitch's "DDD".

The reporting is rather trashy journalism. It's not Moody's "investment grade rating" - it's its "Bank Financial Strength" which is E+ (and yes, such a rating does exist). Its deposits and unsecured debt are both rated Ba3. Ratings report at http://www.co-operativebankinggroup.co.uk/cfscombi/pdf/moodys_crr_170513.pdf

[AnotherOneAmerican]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

Off topic now.

Interesting concept of wealth locked up in property, more of a millstone around your neck.

Value of property excludes you from claiming social services while raising your property taxes and increasing your liability to maintenance fees..

If you sell the house, you still need somewhere to live, making yourself voluntarily homeless is a big no no.

If you own nothing, social security payments, housing payments, no property tax, no maintenance fees.

[yoshiwara]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

Off topic now.

Interesting concept of wealth locked up in property, more of a millstone around your neck.

Value of property excludes you from claiming social services while raising your property taxes and increasing your liability to maintenance fees..

If you sell the house, you still need somewhere to live, making yourself voluntarily homeless is a big no no.

If you own nothing, social security payments, housing payments, no property tax, no maintenance fees.

Being dependent on the State is not a place where many want to be. However having wealth locked up in property when one is older and approaching retirement is a potential drag on income so there are two things one can do. The first is to turn the property into capital, rent it out and live on the income. Many in Thailand do this. The second is to downsize. The accumulation of wealth in property held over several decades has been massive for some. Unlocking it is no millstone.

[mccw]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

Off topic now.

Interesting concept of wealth locked up in property, more of a millstone around your neck.

Value of property excludes you from claiming social services while raising your property taxes and increasing your liability to maintenance fees..

If you sell the house, you still need somewhere to live, making yourself voluntarily homeless is a big no no.

If you own nothing, social security payments, housing payments, no property tax, no maintenance fees.

Not really off topic. It could be a factor in the movement of the pound. I mean people always talk about the needing to print money going forward to pay for pensioners etc welfare; but not not talk of the effect the rich retirees might have. For example a lot of high end properties could be coming to market 5-10 years down the line maybe as people look to down size. Maybe the state / next likely labour gov will increase taxes on this end and force a capital flight as the wealthy pensioners choose to move overseas and take tax free dividends in places like Thailand or the Caribbean. So double effect of printing pounds and pounds leaving the country.

Really don't know how you can say its better to own nothing at all so you get full leaching rights off the state. Laughable; if it wasn't so sad; that basically sums up the problem view of large swaths of the youth in west that look for the best way to milk the system. Inflation will kill the spongers comfort sooner rather than later I think.

[yoshiwara]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

Off topic now.

Interesting concept of wealth locked up in property, more of a millstone around your neck.

Value of property excludes you from claiming social services while raising your property taxes and increasing your liability to maintenance fees..

If you sell the house, you still need somewhere to live, making yourself voluntarily homeless is a big no no.

If you own nothing, social security payments, housing payments, no property tax, no maintenance fees.

Really don't know how you can say its better to own nothing at all so you get full leaching rights off the state. Laughable; if it wasn't so sad; that basically sums up the problem view of large swaths of the youth in west that look for the best way to milk the system. Inflation will kill the spongers comfort sooner rather than later I think.

Agree.

[yoshiwara]

http://bbc.co.uk/news/business-22765940

I found this interesting;

That of 45-65 year olds living in the south east, 28% of them have wealth of over 1million pounds. I was surprised such a high percent really. Its mostly locked up in property but I wonder how it will effect the economy as the wealth starts to unlock due to the retirement or passing away of these boomers.

Off topic now.

Interesting concept of wealth locked up in property, more of a millstone around your neck.

Value of property excludes you from claiming social services while raising your property taxes and increasing your liability to maintenance fees..

If you sell the house, you still need somewhere to live, making yourself voluntarily homeless is a big no no.

If you own nothing, social security payments, housing payments, no property tax, no maintenance fees.

Not really off topic. It could be a factor in the movement of the pound. I mean people always talk about the needing to print money going forward to pay for pensioners etc welfare; but not not talk of the effect the rich retirees might have. For example a lot of high end properties could be coming to market 5-10 years down the line maybe as people look to down size. Maybe the state / next likely labour gov will increase taxes on this end and force a capital flight as the wealthy pensioners choose to move overseas and take tax free dividends in places like Thailand or the Caribbean. So double effect of printing pounds and pounds leaving the country.

I don't think there is much evidence of capital flight dwarfing inward capital at least as far as inner London property is concerned.

[mccw]

That's true right now.

I was reading the Savills property report the other day and I was forcasting home countries commuter belt inflating over the next 3 years as the British upper end workers move out of town and sell / take profits from the foreign influx of cash. But reading the bbc demographic I'm wondering if we see any inflation now or if there is then maybe at around 3-6 years time the selling of the bigger Home Counties properties might counter the London demand. Today big country properties are selling at a discount and taking a long time to sell. Obviously this is more property side but I think perhapse there is some limit to the London cash influx and the retirement selling demographic looks more long term and powerful than the influx of hot money. UK gov is starting to back all residential home loans, 20% interest free of up to 600k, from next year, so just 5% cash down required. This program is planned for a 3 year period. I'd wager this will lead to a mini boom / bubble , good for a leveraged ride over course of next two years and look to sell in the 3rd. I'm no longer so concerned about dropping £ when considering the leveraged gains to be made should be out doing any devaluation. But saying that i still see the whole system could collapse anytime but assuming it doesn't then the above is my thoughts for playing the game.

[yoshiwara]

That's true right now.

I was reading the Savills property report the other day and I was forcasting home countries commuter belt inflating over the next 3 years as the British upper end workers move out of town and sell / take profits from the foreign influx of cash. But reading the bbc demographic I'm wondering if we see any inflation now or if there is then maybe at around 3-6 years time the selling of the bigger Home Counties properties might counter the London demand. Today big country properties are selling at a discount and taking a long time to sell. Obviously this is more property side but I think perhapse there is some limit to the London cash influx and the retirement selling demographic looks more long term and powerful than the influx of hot money. UK gov is starting to back all residential home loans, 20% interest free of up to 600k, from next year, so just 5% cash down required. This program is planned for a 3 year period. I'd wager this will lead to a mini boom / bubble , good for a leveraged ride over course of next two years and look to sell in the 3rd. I'm no longer so concerned about dropping £ when considering the leveraged gains to be made should be out doing any devaluation. But saying that i still see the whole system could collapse anytime but assuming it doesn't then the above is my thoughts for playing the game.

The end of the world is not on my radar but sterling volatility leading up to, around the time of, and post- the next election is. Therefore should I sell up or hunker down. A practical decision.

[mccw]

That's true right now.

I was reading the Savills property report the other day and I was forcasting home countries commuter belt inflating over the next 3 years as the British upper end workers move out of town and sell / take profits from the foreign influx of cash. But reading the bbc demographic I'm wondering if we see any inflation now or if there is then maybe at around 3-6 years time the selling of the bigger Home Counties properties might counter the London demand. Today big country properties are selling at a discount and taking a long time to sell. Obviously this is more property side but I think perhapse there is some limit to the London cash influx and the retirement selling demographic looks more long term and powerful than the influx of hot money. UK gov is starting to back all residential home loans, 20% interest free of up to 600k, from next year, so just 5% cash down required. This program is planned for a 3 year period. I'd wager this will lead to a mini boom / bubble , good for a leveraged ride over course of next two years and look to sell in the 3rd. I'm no longer so concerned about dropping £ when considering the leveraged gains to be made should be out doing any devaluation. But saying that i still see the whole system could collapse anytime but assuming it doesn't then the above is my thoughts for playing the game.

The end of the world is not on my radar but sterling volatility leading up to, around the time of, and post- the next election is. Therefore should I sell up or hunker down. A practical decision.

Depends what you are doing with your sterling. If its in property and in decent location at a fair rental yield then hunker down and see how it goes- maybe take a bit out and move it for some balance / hedge. No need for it to be the all or nothing. If just idle cash in a bank then I'd be concerned any way and looking to put it to work some place.

[mccw]

You think a labour gov would ramp up the printing presses and chase real money away with taxes? I'm a bit worried about that.

[mccw]

They've already said they want to crack down and further regulate landlords and private letting sector- pure genius when facing a major affordable housing shortage

[yoshiwara]

You think a labour gov would ramp up the printing presses and chase real money away with taxes? I'm a bit worried about that.

No, that would be monetary policy and the responsibility of Carney. Re taxes maybe an attempt to revamp rateable values of property but the row would be immense.

[yoshiwara]

They've already said they want to crack down and further regulate landlords and private letting sector- pure genius when facing a major affordable housing shortage

Probably no more than increased penalties for non-declaration.

[mccw]

You think a labour gov would ramp up the printing presses and chase real money away with taxes? I'm a bit worried about that.

No, that would be monetary policy and the responsibility of Carney. Re taxes maybe an attempt to revamp rateable values of property but the row would be immense.

You may think the BoE is 100 % separated but clearly its not. Carney already wanted to drop the inflation target completely (set by the government) and charge to a growth target. Labour instinct will be to spend and carney will be happy to buy as many bonds as they want to issue I think.

[mccw]

They've already said they want to crack down and further regulate landlords and private letting sector- pure genius when facing a major affordable housing shortage

Probably no more than increased penalties for non-declaration.

Lefty councils are already instituting minimum room size rules and maximum people per facility. Meaning most single / cheaper room should be left empty. Stupid in an expensive market place where people are trying to work and save money. Perfect example of dumb regulation based on concepts of human rights and issued from some ivory tower about how the lowers should be entitled to live; but they have no idea obviously because those wanting to rent a single room at close to half the price a double would say "<deleted> why I can't live where I want", "why make life more difficult for me?". It also servers to push rents up up the chain.