Robert Smith

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@tomhfh The design on the left could certainly be improved, but it at least offers views to the landscape beyond. The design to the right is overbearing by comparison.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@moving_charlie I treat all quantitative economic forecasts as if they are as reliable as horoscopes. Often, they’re worse than that.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@QuibbleUK We need to end ‘your call is valuable to us’ corporate answerphone messages. They should be replaced with an automated message giving the average call wait time for that number for the previous 6 months, with bad performers named and shamed (including HMRC).

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@Lazzard59 @mikeparry8 @rachelreeves The idea that business rates relate to rental value has long been an absurd fig-leaf. No amount of proof will get the VOA to adjust to reality with anything like the granularity needed to reflect the rental value of an individual pub. The system is a farce.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@moving_charlie If they were offered £505k I wager they’d sell, even though that’s still a loss when accounting for inflation. It’s odd how people become fixated on past values when the market, and the economy, have plainly moved on (and not in the same direction).

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@MDC12345678 @7Kiwi Party politics forces otherwise rational and intelligent people to make dumb defences of their party. Perhaps that’s why it seems that fewer and fewer rational and intelligent people go into politics.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@DrBurkstrom @shivmalik I believe they have subterranean service roads at Disney theme parks, and the idea was used in part of Canary Wharf. It’s expensive, but also effective.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@algorecrave I think it is the Anthropologie building. You can compare it with the photo of the defunct Granita here (when the Granita signage was still in place): https://t.co/abAIJwrwKc

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@howayinvestment Wow! It would have been so easy to avoid this issue, too. If I’m understanding the law correctly, it could cost tenants nearly a full month’s rent in some cases, unless they carefully align timings, which isn’t always easy. Bonkers.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@wxgibbons @DanNeidle There are around 3m landlords in the UK private rental sector, making a median net income (taxable) of around £9k per annum each. I think there’s a general expectation that this figure would be higher, as landlords are often painted as making huge profits.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@yonann The genius of Windows is that it has people focus on a cheap purchase price rather than total cost of ownership. If you include earlier replacement cost, and higher repair and support costs, the ‘cheap’ Windows machine is the more expensive, and performance will degrade faster.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@moving_charlie Colville, not Coleville 🤦‍♂️

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@moving_charlie I broadly agree, but it’s vital that councils build diverse communities where social/private homes are intermingled. Hackney Council has done this well with the Coleville Estate, retaining the existing community and adding more homes both social and private. That’s the model.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@rorysutherland Perfectly legitimate 1980s business expenses… if your job was prize-shopper for The Generation Game conveyor belt.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@moving_charlie While population growth is part of what drives housing demand, it’s far from the whole picture.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@bad_dadd @J_MoAGoGo I agree. Just because labour and other resources are available in the local currency, it does not follow that it’s a simple matter to deploy those resources productively. It’s quite possible to destroy value in their deployment, which would create inflationary pressure.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@rorysutherland Yes, indeed. I got involved with a company selling sustainable products. My starting point: the eco-angle was nice, but irrelevant to price, and only mildly relevant to positioning. So it proved to be. The more committed people are to eco living, the more it needs to be baked in.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@HopeNotHate68 @georgeeaton @dc_lawrence Do you understand demographics? If so, how do significant demographic shifts not lead to significant changes in demand for council services? They do. Which is why they are very relevant to Council Tax. Old banding neither reflects current economic reality, nor service need.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@HopeNotHate68 @georgeeaton @dc_lawrence Aside from the 5m+ homes we’ve built since 1991, and a few hundred thousand demolished, there have been huge demographic shifts across the country. The idea that this wouldn’t cause significant rebranding is for the birds.

[Robert Smith @randomdorman]

@HopeNotHate68 @georgeeaton @dc_lawrence The houses would not be in the same bands, the market has changed radically. Whether you want council tax to be progressive or not, my criticism of it stands.