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Fox VW

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I worked for Countrywide and lost nothing. It only took a modicum of research and a look performance to see that both the first SAYE scheme and the replacement scheme were flawed. The second scheme was nothing to do with Alison Platt Got hauled over the coals by Snr Management for advising staff to avoid like the plague. Some listened but many didn't. Remember the day when all the senior management left their meetings to buy shares at 10p. They were so smug with themselves. Thankfully the majority of staff were never given that option. Sorry you lost so much but why did you keep investing ?

From: Fox VW 15 February 2021 17:35 PM

Here is a devils advocate reply to the above. 1, It’s about people and fairness. The campaign’s success is precisely because it’s NOT been about estate agents or solicitors or surveyors Whilst it's not about estate agents, solicitors or surveyors all these parties would benefit from an extension of 6 months as proposed in the petition. Its a tax that doesn't affect everyone. on an average year, It benefits around 4% of households once very 23 years, 35% of the adult population will never benefit from the tax holiday 2. It’s tightly focused.There’s clarity of purpose - this is about people getting their ‘rightful’ SDLT exemption, The rules of the scheme were set in in July, some 9 months ago. They have not changed. The rightfulness of the scheme were not based upon date of the offer but date of completion. There has bee no evidence of any purchaser who has completed their sale being denied the benefit of the Stamp Duty Holiday. 3. There’s almost complete agreement amongst analysts - a few dissent, perhaps sometimes to grab headlines, but almost all agents and conveyancers, as well as major organisations from Zoopla to the Halifax called for some form of tapering or extension. One of the major dissenters is Henry Pryor who even according to Phil Spencer in the interview promoted by Estate Agent today, gets more following from social media and requests for his opinion from main stream media than him. I am not surer Anthony Codling falls in the "trying to grab headlines category either". This debate is very much focused entirely around self -interested parties such as those mentioned. agents and conveyancers, as well as major organisations from Zoopla to the Halifax . There is no complaint from removal companies, home furnishing retailers that usually benefit from a "Boom" in the housing market. 4. There’s clear messaging - it’s not difficult for anyone to understand that if you seal the deal by March 31 you benefit and if it’s April 1 or later you miss out. The only truism in the whole article. The message was clear from the outset as mentioned earlier. 5. Celebrity endorsement helps - Phil Spencer and the Daily Telegraph throwing their weight behind a campaign reaches people other than agents who read EAT or MPs interested in housing. In turn, that is reflected in MPs’ postbags and in public debate. As affable as Phil Spencer is, his time as an agent was less than successful. Not sure that the Treasury and Mr Sunak are influenced by the opinion of TV personalities any more with respect to the opinion of ET. As regards MP's led by the former Chairman of Hunters who gave rise to the Saturday Newsflash only a couple of weeks ago, shows his level of true influence. 6. Finally, successful long term lobbying - well done to the agents’ trade groups, house builders and others from the industry who argued persuasively that it wasn’t just Foxtons, Savills and Persimmon that would benefit from a thriving housing market, but individual owners, the trades involved in the ripple effect, and the wider economy that would benefit too. Sorry to state the blindingly obvious, but nothing has been achieved so far. The Treasury are not concerned with how money the individual owners can save. It is the cost to the Treasury that is their concern. There has been no headline grabbing news from any industries or trades involved in the ripple effect at all. No stories of purchasers who could make the deadline but there are no removal dates left, no new owners complaining of shortages of home furnishings, not a jot ! A week on from the debate, not a further word has been uttered by the Chancellor or Jesse Norman about Stamp Duty, They were able to discuss over the weekend the change to the business loans and leak the some of the proposals contained in the budget that helps all businesses across the economy. But still no mention of extending the SDLT holiday? But when Labour MPs this week spoke vehemently in favour of extending the stamp duty holiday, it seemed clear that this particular campaign had hit home. Guess only time will tell

From: Fox VW 08 February 2021 17:55 PM

“Shifting away from punitively high stamp duty rates at the top of the market to a property tax could encourage the older generation in large family houses to sell - Sellers don't pay SDLT. Tricia I understand the point you are trying to make but Council Tax is set by the Local Authority not Central Government based upon the level of services it needs or is willing to pay for. Proposed budgets are published by all Uniatry authorities which allow you to challenge the budget. IHT- For couples the tax free allowance for Inheritance Tax that can be claimed is £1m. A single person allowance is £500,000. The average semi-detached house price in London is currently valued at £590K - well below that threshold. Most High Net Worth Individuals take advantage of the other measures in place. T , In 2019, the government raised around £5.3bn from IHT - nearly equal to the anticipated cost of the current SDLT holiday Capital Gains Tax is a proportionate tax. The greater the gain from the asset the greater tax. It is not in a anyway restricted to gains made in the property market although residential property is taxed at 18%. and increases 20% if your household income exceeds £50,000. In an upward price movement such as seen last year in the housing market, the higher priced houses subject to CGT will pay more tax but proportionately will still be more advantaged than the lower priced property. SDLT is a tax that affects on an average year just over 4% of homeowners and less than 2% of the total adult population. The cost of removing SDLT to the Treasury would be over £12bn per year. To replace these tax funds income tax would have to be raised by 2p for everyone. The real tax issue is the cost TRUE cost of taxation. Over the past 30 years all Governments have tried to steer away from direct taxation such as Income Tax, and substantially increase the rate of indirect taxation such as VAT, fuel duty,. There are numerous fiscal studies on this subject but even as far back as 2016, it was estimated that the average taxpayer was paying an additional £5000 per year in tax through indirect taxation. VAT tax receipts alone are close to 76% of the tax collected through Income Tax. There is also the National Insurance now set for employees at 12% to consider. Perhaps the level of personal taxation is more of a pressing issue?

From: Fox VW 07 February 2021 09:03 AM

“The one thing that is abundantly clear is that this Stamp Duty Holiday has enabled thousands of people to afford to move; something that they have possibly been putting off for the last three years Brilliant analysis. Thanks goodness Brexit wasn't to blame. I mean, SDLT is such new concept to buyers. It has only existed in one form or another since the late 1950's. Just how homeownership in the UK has grown over that time beggars belief....

From: Fox VW 04 February 2021 01:33 AM

And transactions were 14 per cent higher in the final quarter of 2020 than in the final quarter of 2019Receipts grew quarterly as well, up 47 per cent. However, this was still 16 per cent lower than a year earlier. HMRC says that since its first time buyer stamp duty relief was introduced in November 2017, the estimated amount of relief comes to £1.3 billion over 540,900 transactions. Sounds as though HM Treasury based on these figures aren't too convinced of the cliff edge

From: Fox VW 04 February 2021 01:05 AM

How to embarrass yourself! Sending a list of 10 demands to a Chancellor ??? And your leverage to force the Chancellor's hand? Ask your members to stop selling houses? Tell Landlords to evict tenants? Any part of this letter contain any proposals of how these measures will be financed? Wonder why Estate Agents don't belong to your organisation.....

From: Fox VW 04 February 2021 01:01 AM

Stamp Duty Debate Victory? I must have been listening to another debate? It was badly argued by some and amusing by others. Was there a competition who could mention "Cliff Edge" the most times or "My constituents ? "Abbott said there would be no fiscal consequences to the government and buyers in Hackney should be given their own specific stamp duty holiday extension." Brilliant ! Jane Darby (Labour) "many first time buyers were helped by the holiday. Majority of FTB were exempt anyway - Keep up Jane with the facts! Jane Darby (Labour) Property buying was “a key indicator of the country’s financial success.” By whom? The interest and level of homeownership is almost unique to the UK. But he did make an interesting comment when he said the government in general and HM Treasury in particular would note the public’s views and MPs' views carefully, and would consider ‘substantial performance’ as well as ‘completion’ when looking at what to do about the holiday. Substantial meaning getting the keys... what Solicitor is going to tell their client to hand over the keys without completion.. Same act, different word. More than 100,000 people signing the e-petition deserved praise, he said, highlighting the importance of the issue across the country. The government was aware of the strength of feeling on the issue, and the stress involved in each property purchase. He thanked agents, conveyancers and all those in the property buying process who had worked so hard in challenging circumstances. - Tell the masses what they want to hear ! Jesse Norman committed to nothing. Some victory ? It's called Politics and Mr Norman was the most politic speaker of all.

From: Fox VW 02 February 2021 07:22 AM

Absolutely right Andrew. In reality, SDLT tax affects around 3% of the UK home owning population each year. A recent Zoopla report claims the average British homeowner moves once very 23 years. So all those who have bought a house on the strength of SDLT, should remember, in that time , the property they bought is likely to have increased in value by 200%. Seems a good deal to me !

From: Fox VW 01 February 2021 22:02 PM

For the English Counterparts, THE LBTT in Scotland is 5% and with the initial banding of £145,000 removed and set at £250,000. Over this amount £250,001 up to £325,000 the rate is 5% and thereafter £325,000 up to £750,00 rate of 10% and any purchase over £750,0001 = 12% rate. The second fundamental difference is that this tax applies to commercial property too and therefore is included in any revenue figures. The total amount of revenue raised in 2019 was £591m versus £512m collected in 2020 despite the increase in the rate. The second half of 2020 "The BOOm" raised £327m v the H2 of 2019 that raised £336m Not sure what increase Mr Alexander is talking about, save some hyperbole of short term analysis that often pervades this industry Just to put the Revenue stream into perspective £336m in Scotland V £11.8bn in England in 2019. "One swallow doth not a Summer make" I hope Mr Alexander when planning his Agency business takes a longer term view than last month two months and bases his decisions on more than phrases of nearly 50%

From: Fox VW 28 January 2021 23:12 PM

Why not spare a thought for all those other industries that have had to close The thousands of people who have have already lost their jobs, those employees furloughed at home, uncertain as to whether or not their business will be in existence after April. Those people who now may be at risk of losing their homes through unemployment. Everyone in Estate Agency should be grateful that the market has remained opened and at the end of the year enjoyed good business. All this gloom and despair about "Lockdown" and "Market falling off the edge of the Cliff'. It might never happen!?

From: Fox VW 28 January 2021 09:05 AM

Ever since October's Report from Zoopla saying that the market would only fall 6% in 2020, yet the actual outcome was a fall of 11% and in the report released on 21 December 20, house price index price increase as 3.9% yet days after House price index showed a 7.6% growth rate is there be any credibility in the Zoopla report. Why publish 4.3% growth figures for December when the provisional figures have already been released showing 6.5%?? Predictions as accurate as a weather forecast! Remember last January. In the graph shown in the latest report, sales are rising to end on 20.000 for the month. Taken on average year 100,000 sales are completed each month (2019 1.176M), that level of sales is required to achieve the year end target. What I do remember is commentary saying how busy the market was but when the figures are examined after lockdown, it took over 6 months to complete the alleged 375,000 sales of pent up demand. In a "Normal" market 600,000 sales would have been completed anyway. There were no additional sales. Monthly level of completions did not exceed any monthly total of completions 2019 until November 20 So the 8% increase in house sales (or more accurately sales agreed but not completed) equates at best to 1600 units divided by the 53,000 estate agents and auctioneers in business in 2020. Hold that champagne! Why the Chancellor should see the housing market as bright spot when losing much needed tax revenue to a market that performance was the lowest since 2012 is anyone's guess. His thoughts are probably, the home owing population is happy because their property has risen in price against a background of heavy price falls forecast at the start of the lockdown. Estate Agency is one of the heaviest industries for furloughed staff. Nothing but sunshine for Mr Sunak.

From: Fox VW 27 January 2021 15:07 PM

Spot on. Good to see a sensible and considered response. Estate Agency seems to have the inability to look past last week and forward to the next, only its positive news. Probably why no one took notice of Mr Stanton earlier in the year regarding SDLT. The self congratulatory "Pats on the back for completions in December" really marks the end of a year that saw the lowest number of house sales since 2012. TwentyCi reported that only completions were only at 60% level in October, a comment once again replaced by as a story of wild sales from an Agent based upon "In my backyard'. as an indicator of the general market.

From: Fox VW 22 January 2021 15:57 PM

I not sure that the comments are gratuitous but nevertheless I might have been more sympathetic to your argument were your own self-interests not served by being an investor and a regular contributor this to this publication (Angels Media). Sure that Graham was well intentioned but surely you must support freedom of the press and the right to reply?

From: Fox VW 01 November 2020 01:20 AM

Unpalatable as it may seem, I believe the Agent has a reasonable chance of success in the claim for £500 provided the charge was stated within the terms of the contract. The four parts of a contract are Offer, Acceptance , Intention to create a legal binding agreement and consideration (usually money). These parts would been created by the signing of the TOB. To make the contract enforceable three other elements have to be present, Mutual Consent, Legality and in Writing. These parts do not appear to be disputed by Mr. Telford I am not aware of any Agent that contracts to enact a completed sale, conducted a definitive number of vieiwngs or procure a defined level of interest etc. Service levels are not therefore the "Consideration" part of the agreement and highly unlikely to be the "Offer" part of the contract. The liability of payment of fee when sold by another Agent under a Sole Agency agreement is well established. UCTA imposes limits on the extent to which liability for breach of contract, negligence or other breaches of duty can be avoided by means of contractual provisions such as exclusion clauses. As previously stated, Mr Telford would have to prove that the terms of contact that he signed were unfair for the purpose for which he entered into the contract. How many Agents believe they have unfair TOB's ? Limitations Act - The statutes of limitation are to protect defendants. In cases of monetary claims, the time limit is 6 years so after 5 years, the Claimant is entitled to seek payment. Sadly, bad service and not achieving a desired outcome does not itself constitute breach of contract.

From: Fox VW 25 January 2019 14:08 PM

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