PANTO SEASON
An MEP in waiting asks:
Am I the only person to wonder what is going on in Belgium? The all new Brussels pantomime, “Van Rompuy and the British Baroness”. What are they for? We have queens, presidents, prime ministers and foreign ministers coming out of our ears, but do we need them? And can they do the job? Have they ever run a business, run a home, run to the shops even? Nigel Farage from UKIP said, “The new Baroness Ashton is ideal for the role. She has never had a proper job and never been elected to public office.” Does any single one of them care about the property business? Do tell.

(SOME) GOOD NEWS ON EMPTY HOMES
Letting agent writes
South Lakeland District Council has 5000 people on its housing list, and estimates there are 1000 empty homes in their area. It has appointed an Empty Homes Officer who has already taken action on 70 unoccupied properties. 13 have been re-occupied – excellent! Letters have been sent to the owners of 10 properties asking if they will rent them out to local people. Pretty good! The remaining 57 have been identified as second homes, and their council tax discount reduced from 50 per cent to 10 per cent – so that the Council gets more revenue from them. At a council tax average of £1000 per home, that means the council gains an additional £22,800 per year – just from those 57 homes. Clouds and silver linings?

WHITE SOCK BRIGADE
Piers Nice-but-Thin writes
Ricochet are making a new property programme. The makers of the series Open House want to film couples or families who are about to embark on a search for a new home, possibly one in need of some renovation or have successfully renovated their dream home from a previously empty property. Well that should be an interesting challenge considering the terrifying lack of properties on the market at the moment. And I wonder how the hapless estate agent will come out of this one? I hope they find a representative of our profession who can sensibly value the place at the end of the show without perpetuating the bad name that TV shows have given us. We don’t all wear white socks y’know.

I DON’T BELIEVE IT
Soggy Stephen writes from the Cumbrian Hills
Could Propertydrum write some sensible advice for people affected by floods? I run a letting agency in Cockermouth and nearly all my tenants suffered to a greater or lesser degree in the historic and disgusting floods. The Environment Agency’s advice – which I am supposed to pass on to tenants – was stunning: “Turn off gas, electricity and water supplies ... wash your hands after touching floodwater. Call Floodline, you can receive warnings by phone, text, e-mail or fax… or monitor bulletins on your TV or computer.”

SOLD DOWN THE RIVER
British Waterway evictions
The BBC reported that, in a bid to raise funds to reinvest in the canals, British Waterways is to put eleven homes up for auction in the New Year. It has written to tenants who rent homes from them in Sharpness, telling them that they may have to leave their homes in January. Kelvin Kerr, one of the tenants, said, “We were given the impression when we took the place eight months ago that we were going to stay here for good,” he said. “We’ve spent £9,000 doing the place up and then we get a letter out of the blue saying they are selling everything at auction.” British Waterways said, “All the properties for sale are let on assured shorthold tenancies and each tenant has been given first refusal to buy their property. If a new landlord buys the property no-one would have to leave their homes but it would be up to them to decide whether to renew that agreement.”