It has been the best install of windows I have ever done, MUCH faster to install than Vista, much cleaner RAM, (Less than HALF compared to a clean install of Vista!!). The system is clean and neat and fast. Very impressive stuff.

Also with its nice little extras such as the shake function (select and hold the top bar of any window and shake the mouse. all other windows are minimised. repeat the action and they all return. )

The task bar is also a great improvement, from simply ‘quick view’ of windows (just roll your mouse over the item in the bar), so rearranging the programs on the task bar (something I have longed for many years). even the ‘Show desktop’ is much better positioning at the far bottom right, to allow a quick view of the desktop, or quick selection without having to position the mouse over a little button, and keep bringing up the start menu instead!

Thoroughly impressed with windows 7!

Can’t wait to try PI on my new and fast system!

I have found enquiries are now back to normal for my No Money Down finance scheme and mortgages easier.

Raymond

Residential , Investment, Commercial , BTLs, Newbuilds & Repossessions

t: 01789 268999 f: 0870 486 7996 e: r_moore@btinternet.com web: nutcrackerclinic.com

You make some valid points on the down side of CPO’s. Its not an area I know particularly well, and I’d be interested to know why you think that the compensation payouts are below ‘reasonable’ value (it was my understanding that the Gov were obliged to pay ‘fair market value’ for them. To paraphrase from the Wikipedia entry on this (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Compulsory_purchase_order):

‘Compensation rights usually include the value of the property, costs of acquiring and moving to a new property, and sometimes additional payments. Costs of professional advice regarding compensation are usually reimbursed by the Authority, so that people affected by a compulsory purchase order can seek advice from a solicitor and a surveyor and expect to be reimbursed.’

But as I say, I have no direct experience to claim on what is happening in practice…

Whilst I agree with you that there is a strong moral case for the Gov to assist further than simply turfing people out, shoving cash in their hand and wishing them well…I cannot see it happening for the simple reason that its not a vote winner, and the rest of the home owners will view the targets of CPOs and having been well renumerated. Providing guarantee schemes would work, but would be a direct cost for the Gov, something that the treasury is very unlikely to be keen on in the current climate.

It appears that the CPO ‘refugees’ are caught in a difficult situation. The legistlation that permits CPOs was designed in a different market era – perhaps if it had been written now, things might be different. My first thought though is whether these people could file a class action suit under human rights legislation given the extreme difficulty of getting a new home for some – one could argue that they are effectively being made homeless. Just a thought – any legal people out there care to comment?

LOCAL AUTHORITY IN HOUSING MARKET.Vs Compulsory Purchase Orders.
There is one area of concern to me as am begining to see quite number of cases coming up.
This to some extent, might link up with local authority redeemption plans on unsold house stocks and lands from developers.

You may recall that the government through the local authorities and development agencies working for the government, carried out a lots of Compulsory purchase Orders on private properties for example in London proir to the Olympic games 2012 developments lots of properties have been compulsorily purchased’(CPOed’) in London-Stratford Canning Town, Hackney Bow etc.

In Manchester where significant growth emerged post Commonwealth games, regeneration plans lead to lots of CPO declarations in areas such as Moston- Kingsley Avenue area; Clayton; etc.
Unfortunately, not reasonable redeemption money was paid out to home owners and landlords.
My key concern which i would like you to look into if you have the chance is:
Are there any positive policies to be carried out by government in assisting property and home owners who lost their houses under CPO apart from the compensation pay outs to get new homes?
My take on this is the fact that lots of people who lost out on CPOs cannot get mortgage to buy new homes from the banks when the banking crisis emerged. this is due to high deposit demand and mostly, change of personal credit circumstances as a result of loss of jobs etc.
Are there any steps govenment is taking to assist such people back into the property market?
I think this may increse sale on developers stocks in a way if there is government assistance for people getting their homes back from that dimention as well- may be in the form guaranteed mortgage Schemes where they fail credit checks.
This issue might not be of interest to many am not sure however, it has some effect on investors wealth if they are affacted by cpo I can forsee a direct correlation between boosting the property market and individual home ownership which is in line with governments fiscal policies.

Firstly, the Bank of England has slashed the base rate by 1.5%, meaning the base rate is now only 3%.

This should be particularly beneficial for anyone currently on a tracker but is unlikely to have a direct effect on new rates. However many lenders have passed on this cut in the form of a reduction in their Standard Variable Rates.

Secondly, as a result of the base rate cut, the 3 month LIBOR rate has been cut by 1%, now sitting at just below 4.5%.

The LIBOR rate is the rate at which banks lend to each other and will have a direct effect on the costs to the banks of obtaining funds, and therefore enable them to reduce mortgage rates.

As a result of the above, nearly all tracker rates have been withdrawn from the market to be repriced. The next week or so should be interesting as new rates gradually begin to appear again.

But what does this mean to the individual who may be about to remortgage?

Well, two things.

Firstly, the rate that you will revert to when your current deal comes to an end, the lenders Standard Variable Rate(SVR,)will probably be much lower that it would have been a week ago. This may mean that you are better off sitting on the SVR with your current lender rather than moving elsewhere or taking another deal with them.

Secondly, we are due to see a lot of new rates coming out which may well be a lot more competitive than you were expecting. So there could be cheaper options out there.

Also, depending on how rates are repriced, it may be a good time to fix your mortgage rate, although this will depend on your circumstances.

If you are due to come out of your current deal any time soon, speak to an independent Mortgage broker. They will be able to tell you what the best deals out there are for your circumstances and tell you whether it is worth you moving at all or, as is now often the case, you are better off staying where you are.