Gardening with the red trousers brigade | Brief letters

Interest rates | Poetry in newspapers | Minister spotting | Cat names

Some 35 years ago I was a researcher at London Business School, sharing our sole computer with the renowned (or infamous) Economic Forecasting Unit, led by Terry, later Lord, Burns, before he was appropriated by Margaret Thatcher to advise the government. I well recall the announcement (though not the reason for it) by an EFU colleague: “We will never see single interest rates again.” If there is one observation I have made since, it is that all worldly things are subject to sudden, radical upheaval (Interest rate ‘will remain low for next 20 years’, 10 August).
Philip Dowell
Bridport, Dorset

• Absolutely agree with Fr Julian Dunn (Letters, 10 August). Please bring back the Saturday poems; and reviews and articles about poetry and poets. The poetic spirit of the old Saturday Review is sorely missed.
Clare Addison
Oxford

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Gardening with the red trousers brigade | Brief letters https://t.co/OiPPBiN85h Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

Gardening with the red trousers brigade | Brief letters https://t.co/OiPPBiN85h Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1029049008420016128)

Gardening with the red trousers brigade | Brief letters

Interest rates | Poetry in newspapers | Minister spotting | Cat names

Some 35 years ago I was a researcher at London Business School, sharing our sole computer with the renowned (or infamous) Economic Forecasting Unit, led by Terry, later Lord, Burns, before he was appropriated by Margaret Thatcher to advise the government. I well recall the announcement (though not the reason for it) by an EFU colleague: “We will never see single interest rates again.” If there is one observation I have made since, it is that all worldly things are subject to sudden, radical upheaval (Interest rate ‘will remain low for next 20 years’, 10 August).
Philip Dowell
Bridport, Dorset

• Absolutely agree with Fr Julian Dunn (Letters, 10 August). Please bring back the Saturday poems; and reviews and articles about poetry and poets. The poetic spirit of the old Saturday Review is sorely missed.
Clare Addison
Oxford

Continue reading...

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Park Modern: flats for super-rich leave key workers in the cold https://t.co/ANu2LJkJEh Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

Park Modern: flats for super-rich leave key workers in the cold https://t.co/ANu2LJkJEh Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1028888926038237184)

My partner is a first-time buyer but I am not. Do we have to pay stamp duty? https://t.co/cFFV6bGTVT Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM

My partner is a first-time buyer but I am not. Do we have to pay stamp duty? https://t.co/cFFV6bGTVT Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/GmjoJxU3bM (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1028888923790102528)

Park Modern: flats for super-rich leave key workers in the cold

Despite London’s housing crisis, half billion pound development beside Kensington Gardens won’t include a single affordable flat

It is billed as “London’s most prestigious residential development” and prospective super-rich buyers are offered the chance to be “neighbours to the new Duke and Duchess of Sussex” in Kensington Palace.

The developers have also ensured that residents won’t have to share walls with anyone on a modest wage as they made a not-uncommon agreement with Westminster city council and the mayor of London that the half-a-billion pound development overlooking Kensington Gardens should not include a single affordable flat despite the “housing crisis” gripping the capital.

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My partner is a first-time buyer but I am not. Do we have to pay stamp duty?

I want to buy a home with my fiancee, but already own 20% of another property. Can we benefit from the SDLT relief available to first-time buyers?

Q I have a 20% stake in a house I jointly own with my brother. However, I am looking to buy a house with my fiancee later this year. She is a first-time buyer. Is there any way we can buy a house without having to pay the extra 3% stamp duty land tax (SDLT) and/or get the benefit of SDLT relief for first-time buyers?

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