ridiculous house prices

[VKK3450]

Originally Posted by MichaelE

I would hate to see where the blue collar and the poor live.

I guess I'm not retiring to the UK.

Well something that the UK does provide is subsidized housing or council housing. These are spread through the cities, so there may be council housing in the middle of a fairly well to do area.

Otherwise if you dont make alot you dont live in the areas of London that the OP was talking about. I think Bouji tried to map the neighborhoods of NYC to the neighborhoods of London a while back. That can give you an idea of where different income levels may live.

Ohhh, and the Brits dont retire in England. They all move to Spain...

K

 

[VKK3450]

Originally Posted by academe

I think it's only more expensive than the US if you're living outside of a major metro area. If you're in San Francisco, NYC, Chicago, the prices are comparable to what you're quoting. In the SF Bay Area, I paid up to $6.99/lb (1lb ~ 500g) for grapes from higher-end supermarkets like Whole Foods. You might be able to find them for $2.99-3.99/lb at less expensive supermarkets...


Fair enough... Just looked at Sainsburys and they are under 2 pounds a bunch, so thats less than $4 a pound.

Its like the Grape Index instead of the Big Mac Index...

K

 

[zupermaus]

man buch of grapes, £6 Marks & Spencer. Im not lying about that, really. And yes they can be found cheaper in other shops, as Im sure you can find cheaper housing in other areas, such as sunny Woolwich. As far as Im aware the World Grape Index does not operate a standardised nationwide monopoly in the UK

The public builds charge far more than the standard cowboys. Im sure installing that tha mirror costed less on your own terms, however give thye contract to the council and its pretty much blank cheques all round. The prices were from a (Panorama I think) investigation into why they costed so much, and why noone knew about these prices in the public realm. They found a pattern of evidence suggesting local councils often gave their contracts to the much more expensive bidders for some reason (read: bribes), and that there was no body to regulate the public pricing either. When I was at school we had the one caretaker who lived on the grounds. Now you have to call in private firms. Where I work (a public office) they recently had to call in scaffolders to build a scaffold to reach a lightbulb, and tweak it to shine in the right direction (ladders were seen as dangerous health & safety issues,) an ongoing issue for 3 months. In the end I stood on top of the counter and did it myself.

 

[Tangfastic]

There's an estate agent in Clifton, Bristol (a nice area of a fair sized provincial city) that has an advert in their window saying you don't have to be a millionaire to buy here - 60% of our homes cost less than £750k. I don't think its meant to be amusing..

 

[Dragon]

I don`t know much about London, but in a major city I think you could probably find grapes at ridiculous prices. Last week when I was in Japan, I saw $200 grapes for just one, small bunch. Next to the grapes were $300 mangoes with a whopping 2 mangoes included in the package.

Also it`s interesting to observe that Tokyo`s housing prices are relatively cheap compared to the rest of the world`s metro areas. I guess since they have already gone through the huge bubble, things are relatively under control, while the rest of the world is probably going through something similar to Tokyo in the late 80s.

 

[VKK3450]

Originally Posted by zupermaus

man buch of grapes, £6 Marks & Spencer. Im not lying about that, really. And yes they can be found cheaper in other shops, as Im sure you can find cheaper housing in other areas, such as sunny Woolwich. As far as Im aware the World Grape Index does not operate a standardised nationwide monopoly in the UK

The public builds charge far more than the standard cowboys. Im sure installing that tha mirror costed less on your own terms, however give thye contract to the council and its pretty much blank cheques all round. The prices were from a (Panorama I think) investigation into why they costed so much, and why noone knew about these prices in the public realm. They found a pattern of evidence suggesting local councils often gave their contracts to the much more expensive bidders for some reason (read: bribes), and that there was no body to regulate the public pricing either.

When I was at school we had the one caretaker who lived on the grounds. Now you have to call in private firms. Where I work (a public office) they recently had to call in scaffolders to build a scaffold to reach a lightbulb, and tweak it to shine in the right direction (ladders were seen as dangerous health & safety issues,) an ongoing issue for 3 months.
In the end I stood on top of the counter and did it myself.

My problem is that you are putting up sensationalist prices. Almost no-one does their weekly shopping in an M&S. Its a quick place to drop in and buy stuff for a meal that night when you dont have time to go to the grocery store.

If you wanted to paint the right picture, not some Daily Mail propoganda you would quote a Tesco price (I beleive its the largest retailer in the UK). That would have been more representative of what prices are in England. Or Sainsburys, Morrisons, or ASDA.

Your problems with builders prices aren' with the market price. They are with the general nanny state and the absurd contracts that the councils make. Its the same thing as the stories about the US DoD and $700 hammers. You gave people on this board the impression that these are the prices that the average Londoner pays.

K

 

[VKK3450]

Originally Posted by Dragon

I don`t know much about London, but in a major city I think you could probably find grapes at ridiculous prices. Last week when I was in Japan, I saw $200 grapes for just one, small bunch. Next to the grapes were $300 mangoes with a whopping 2 mangoes included in the package.

Tell me about it. Perfectly formed, ripe and blemish free fruit can command absurd prices in many Asian countries.

K

 

[Trilby]

I agree with VKK. London prices are absurd, but some of the numbers that zupermaus is quoting just aren't representative of what people actually pay in London.

Housing and eating out are extremely expensive in London, compared to just about any other city in the world. However, grocery shopping isn't completely out of line with US prices - some things are cheaper and some are more expensive. The weak dollar definitely distorts the comparison of prices.

 

[RJman]

For the first time in my life I saw spotted dick in the US this week. It must be cheaper in the UK.

 

[Piobaire]

Originally Posted by RJman

For the first time in my life I saw spotted dick in the US this week. It must be cheaper in the UK.

What was his name?

 

[Concordia]

Originally Posted by RJman

For the first time in my life I saw spotted dick in the US this week. It must be cheaper in the UK.


And what brought you to that clinic?

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by VKK3450

Tell me about it. Perfectly formed, ripe and blemish free fruit can command absurd prices in many Asian countries. K
I think the crazy fruit prices are really only in Japan. From what I understand from my Japanese friends, these very expensive fruits are usually bought as gifts, and are regard almost more as natural objet d'art, because of their seeming perfection, aesthetic qualities, etc. Typically, for the customers who actually want to eat their grapes, rather than just look at them, there are also the £2 grapes.

I think with fruits, the Japanese put a different cultural value on "perfection."

 

[VKK3450]

Originally Posted by academe

I think the crazy fruit prices are really only in Japan. From what I understand from my Japanese friends, these very expensive fruits are usually bought as gifts, and are regard almost more as natural objet d'art, because of their seeming perfection, aesthetic qualities, etc. Typically, for the customers who actually want to eat their grapes, rather than just look at them, there are also the £2 grapes.

I think with fruits, the Japanese put a different cultural value on "perfection."

I've seen it in Hong Kong also. You're right though, its for gifts not personal consumption.

I love the shaped watermelons

K

 

[George]

Originally Posted by dkzzzz

As oppose to you I have lived in London and Boston. There is ONLY one similarity between these two cities it is general ugliness of people inhabiting them.

English province is a horrible place to live if you lived in NYC, Moscow, London, France or Italy. It all depends on your comparison references, dimbulb.

I don't think your English, but I do know you're a dickhead...

 

[academe]

Originally Posted by George

I don't think your English, but I do know you're a dickhead...

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