Bridge retailers 'elated' by Leale's Yard State purchase
He said: "I honestly didn't think it would happen in my lifetime and I think it is going to happen this time."I honestly think it's gone on too long but we've got so close now to the point of the negotiation and where they bought it and where they've actually put their hands in the pocket."Shop owner Dave Perchard said he was "hopeful that something is actually going to happen this time".He said: "I've traded on The Bridge for 30 years now, and even 30 years ago I was concerned as to what the future for my shop was going to be because of Leale's Yard."Here we are 30 years later and nothing's happened, but it really looks positive this time."
Deputy Steve Williams, President of the Housing Committee, said it was a "great opportunity" for the States to improve the area.He said: "It's been derelict for a long time and we saw through the election period a lot of the public were really keen that something happened with Leale's Yard. "We desperately need housing in the island, this is such a brownfield site... it's really good derelict land to make some good opportunity for new housing."
'Generating transport links'
Committee for the Environment and Infrastructure President Deputy Adrian Gabriel said work had to be done to improve the roads.He said: "The road network at the moment won't certainly cope with extra housing, so this site is ideal for generating some transport links to help the surrounding area residents and anyone visiting."It's brilliant that we've been able to capitalise on this and invest in this site... this site has been derelict for many a year so now it's wholly in the state's hands."
Lisa said the States needed to provide more housing for its islanders.She said: "Hopefully it's a good thing and it'll be redeveloped into new homes which are desperately needed in the island."I think The Bridge needs a bit of a facelift... we need houses, it's a unique site."Islander Martin disagreed: "More houses, more people, we haven't got the infrastructure in this island."What the bridge needs to make it more vibrant is more shops... make it look nice, a nice shopping precinct [and a] nice big car park."
Debs said she was worried about the impact on the local school."For me, I feel it's bursting at the seams already - adding all that extra housing in one spot, that concerns me."Andrew said he was not convinced things would change: "It's been going on for a few years now and I don't think they're going to do much with it."That's not going to happen within a year, I reckon give it another five years and it'll probably still be the same."Islander Robert said this was "just what the bridge needs": "For the footfall that will come out of the building project and with Quayside work going on when that's in place there's going to be a lot more commercial benefit from it."
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Times
5 hours ago
- Times
‘I wish I had never bought my Help to Buy flat — it's lost £40k'
If Connie Duxbury could go back in time, she never would have bought her Help to Buy flat. When Duxbury, 30, and her husband, Ollie, 31, were paying £1,500 in rent for a one-bedroom flat in Hammersmith in 2020, the Help to Buy scheme appeared to be a quick way onto the property ladder. It was created in 2013 to help aspiring first-time buyers own a home and allowed borrowers with at least a 5 per cent deposit to take a government loan, interest-free for five years, worth up to 20 per cent of the property's price (40 per cent in London). The idea was that because the government loan was interest-free, it would make owning much cheaper than renting. The scheme, which closed in March 2023, was only available on new-build homes. The Duxburys hoped to buy a flat, then sell after a couple of years and move to somewhere bigger. Instead, they have gone backwards. The two-bedroom flat in Croydon they bought five years ago for £390,000 — helped by a 25 per cent loan from the government — finally found a buyer in March for £352,000, after three years on the market and three price reductions. This came after a six-month delay to it being built, drainage problems that left sewage coming through the wall and cost £5,000 to fix, and two years fighting the block's management company to avoid a £20,000 a year service charge. While what they owe to the government has fallen from £97,500 to £88,000 in line with the fall in the property's value, they also owe £270,000 on their mortgage — almost as much as their original mortgage of £273,000. • Only '1 in 10 people under 44 can afford to buy a first home' They will lose all of the £19,500 deposit they used to buy the flat and, as they are selling for £6,000 less than they owed their mortgage lender and the government, they don't have enough savings left to buy another property — and will be forced back into renting. 'We thought we were doing what you were meant to do, which was save up, buy somewhere, sell it, make a little bit of a profit and move on,' said Duxbury, who works for an energy company. 'I'm actually looking forward to renting again, because I know that if something goes wrong it won't be up to us to pay to fix it. We would only buy somewhere if it was a house — I would never buy a flat again.' The couple will join thousands who used the government's £24.7 billion Help to Buy scheme only to see their flats fall in value. The government loan is at a fixed equity rather than value, meaning that if it lent you 20 per cent you will pay back 20 per cent of the value at the time of repaying, even if that is less money in actual terms because your property has fallen in value. If your property rises in value you will have to pay back more than the original loan. Some 11,452 flat owners in England have repaid their Help to Buy loans at a lower value than they borrowed — that's 35 per cent of the total 32,776 loans repaid between 2013-14 and the end of 2023-24. The figures were obtained in a freedom of information request to Homes England, the government agency that administered Help to Buy. The problem is getting worse. In 2015-16 only 6 per cent of the 716 government loans against flats were paid back at less than someone had borrowed, either when the buyer sold or remortgaged, but by 2024-25 the number had risen to 45 per cent of 5,173 repaid loans. The fall in value has been limited to flats. Over the same timeframe the proportion of Help to Buy houses where the loans were repaid at a lower value fell from 13 per cent to 3 per cent. This is the trend you would expect for houses, given the average UK property price has increased 53 per cent to £268,652 since January 2015. But the flat market has been stagnant over the past ten years, driven largely by the cladding scandal that followed the Grenfell Tower fire in June 2017 then the pandemic-induced race for space. In May 2017, the average semi-detached house sold for about £196,250 — 15 per cent more than the average flat, which went for about £171,000. By May this year, the average semi-detached house sold for about £270,500 — 36 per cent more than the average flat at about £198,250. Help to Buy flats have fared particularly badly. Some 16 per cent of all flats bought between 2013 and 2023 were sold at a loss, according to the estate agency Hamptons, less than half the proportion revealed by the Homes England figures. Sebastian O'Kelly from the advice charity the Leasehold Knowledge Partnership said the market for flats had become 'toxic' amid 'shocking revelations post-Grenfell of how badly some of them were built.' He said: 'As well as housebuilders letting down their customers, they have also diddled taxpayers, as we subsidised these purchases through Help to Buy.' • How 300,000 homeowners could cut their mortgage — for a fat fee Help to Buy ran for ten years and was used on 387,195 properties bought for a total of £109.2 billion. The loans were interest-free for the first five years and would be repaid either when a buyer sold, remortgaged or after 25 years. It was designed to encourage housebuilding and lending to first-time buyers with small deposits after the financial crisis. However, it has also been accused of pushing up house prices and enriching developers. According to the government spending watchdog, the National Audit Office, housebuilders built larger homes that they could sell for more because first-time buyers could borrow more money. A 2019 report from the watchdog found that the five largest housebuilders had built 50.4 per cent of all homes sold through Help to Buy. The scheme boosted their sales numbers more than 50 per cent, increasing their profits and share prices. Most homes sold through the scheme were houses, most of which have risen in value, and helped the Treasury turn an overall profit of about £1 billion on repaid loans. But about 80,000 were flats, largely in towns and cities such as Birmingham, Bristol, London, Manchester, Milton Keynes and Southampton. Across the scheme's duration, the average Help to Buy house owner's property had risen £33,666 (13.3 per cent) in value compared with what they paid for it when they repaid the loan, while the average flat owner made just £7,652 (2.8 per cent). A key factor in the poor market performance of flats is that Help to Buy was only available on new builds. These usually come with a premium of about 20 per cent because they have never been lived in — but the shine quickly wears off. The stagnant market for flats means many have never recovered from that initial dip in value. Worries over fire safety, problems selling and getting a mortgage on flats with cladding issues and expensive service charges have also hit their values. David Fell from Hamptons said: 'First-time buyer-friendly Help to Buy flats were disproportionately in bigger buildings that were more likely to have cladding or service charge issues than, say, a two-storey Victorian maisonette.' When Sam Balsdon bought her one-bedroom flat in Bristol for £158,500 in April 2017, she had no idea fire safety issues would leave her stuck there eight years later. Balsdon, 35, who works in customer services for an insurer, chose Help to Buy as she had few other options as a solo first-time buyer. Her flat wasn't perfect — the block has no parking and poor broadband access — but she loved it. That is until April 2020 when she discovered that the three-storey block of 20 flats had problems with its cavity barriers, a form of fire protection, and she was unable to get the flat valued to remortgage it. She had hoped to pay off her £31,700 Help to Buy loan at the same time as remortgaging. She tried again in April 2022, in the hope things had changed as her Help to Buy interest-free period was coming to an end, but with the same outcome. Even a quick-sale company (which will buy your property at a reduced price if you can't wait to sell) that offered £135,000 pulled out when it learnt it was a Help to Buy flat, as it did not want to deal with Homes England. Help to Buy owners must agree a valuation with Homes England before they can repay their loan or sell. • You can sell your home in days — but at what cost? 'That's when I really felt trapped,' Balsdon said. Since last October, she has rented out the flat for £1,100 a month, which loses her money after tax, mortgage payments and her £306 a month service charge, and has moved into her boyfriend's house until the issues are fixed and she can sell. She said: 'It makes me really sad. It was one of my proudest achievements to buy somewhere on my own, and it's just turned into one of the worst decisions I've ever made.' There tend to be fewer types of buyer for flats. While a house bought through Help to Buy might subsequently be bought by a family looking to upsize, flats tend to be favoured by first-time buyers — but since Help to Buy was only available on new flats, the resale potential was limited. Landlords who may have once been interested are also fewer in number due to tax changes and higher mortgage rates, which have made it harder to turn a profit. A third problem for sellers was that the market had been flooded by new flats over the past few years, according to Fred Jones, the chief executive of the quick-sale company Upstix. Flats bought earlier on in Help to Buy's lifetime, before safety standards were improved, might now be less attractive. Jones said: 'Many of these flats are in large developments where new units continue to come onto the market. This creates a high level of competition, particularly for those who bought a few years ago and are now trying to sell into a much more crowded landscape.' He said there had been a 'steady stream of inquiries' from owners of small flats looking to get rid. Many owners now face the unenviable choice of either being wiped out by selling at a loss, or staying put. The Department for Housing, Communities and Local Government (DHCLG) and the Home Builders Federation, which represents developers, said the figures were down to the performance of the wider housing market. 'There is no evidence that buying a property through Help to Buy has an impact on its overall value,' the DHCLG said.
The Sun
6 hours ago
- The Sun
‘I run Britain's cheapest shop where everything costs 20p… but we're still fighting thieves'
BRITAIN'S cheapest shop - where everything costs 20p - is having to fight thieves despite its incredible prices. The 20p Shop, situated in the market town of Otley, West Yorkshire, is renowned for its jaw-dropping bargains. 4 4 4 The small business sells greeting cards, cutlery and even pieces of jewellery for next-to-nothing. But its owner has issued a warning to other retailers over shoplifters - despite the unbelievably low prices. It comes as statistics published last month indicate that shoplifting in England and Wales is at an all time high. Steve Nelson, 67, told the Daily Mail how thieves will come in and pay for one 20p item "just to make it look good" - before taking other items off the shelves and walking out. He even said how some of the shoplifters are pensioners and that one couple had been barred from the shop. Steve added: "When you've got pensioners stealing from a 20p shop, something's gone seriously wrong, hasn't it?" Despite items only setting customers back by 20p per item, shoplifting has still had an impact on the shop. Stock in the shop is bought in bulk and sourced carefully to allow profit margins of a mere few pennies on each item sold - making theft a big blow to the small business. Steve said that some thieves allegedly take cards in bulk just to sell them on at car boot sales for 50p each. Bulk thefts on cards, for example, could cost owner Steve £30 to £40, he said. How business owners are cracking down on shoplifting The 20p store opened in 2017 and has become somewhat of a tourist attraction due to its bargains. Locals reportedly donate any unwanted items, and there are no hired employees - just kind-hearted volunteers. The total income for the shop in a day sits at roughly £150 - which has to cover rent, rates and electricity. But bill increases and wholesale stock becoming more expensive means pressure has mounted on the shop. The council also decided to paint double yellow lines outside the shop, causing a drop in footfall. Steve's son Stewart, 31, said that while there had been rumours of the prices getting raised to 50p, he said it wasn't happening. In 2023, shoplifting added £133 to the cost of an average household's shopping bill for the year, according to the Centre For Retail Research. There were 516,971 shoplifting crimes last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which is a 20 per cent increase on 2023 when 429,873 offences were recorded. In its annual crime survey of major retailers, the British Retail Consortium found that violence and abuse against shop workers rose by 50 per cent, with more than 2,000 incidents recorded on average each day. 4
The Sun
8 hours ago
- The Sun
Hidden impact of UK's shoplifting epidemic revealed as crime wave costs every household £150 a year through price hikes
BRITAIN'S shoplifting epidemic is pushing the UK's retail sector into a 'vicious cycle', with rampant theft fuelling out-of-control inflation. The Sun on Sunday can reveal that the crime wave is costing households almost £147 a year as stores hike prices to recoup their losses and pay for extra security measures. 7 Britain's shoplifting epidemic is pushing the UK's retail sector into a 'vicious cycle', with rampant theft fuelling out-of-control inflation Credit: Getty 7 A looter is captured on shops' CCTV 7 A shoplifter is pictured in a store Credit: Getty 7 A crook pockets stolen items before leaving this shop Credit: Darren Fletcher With inflation jumping to a worrying 3.6 per cent this week — and with Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey under pressure to slash interest rates to stimulate growth — experts warn that shop theft is pushing inflation ever higher. Economist Dr Kamran Mahroof, associate professor at the University of Bradford, said: 'We are stuck in a vicious circle, with high prices provoking people to steal at the same time as shoplifting forces stores to raise the cost of their goods, exacerbating inflation. Billions of pounds worth of stock is being stolen, but it doesn't stop there. 'Security tags are being put on pretty much everything nowadays, from baby formula to butter and cheese, and these tags have to be bought from a supplier and then they have to be attached, and time costs money. Costs retailers billions 'Rampant theft is also causing staff to go off sick because they are fed up with being intimidated and assaulted, and that is an additional cost to the retailer. 'Shoplifting is not the only cause of inflation and the most significant factors are rising production costs, geopolitical tensions and other external shocks. 'But you can't turn a blind eye to the significance of this crime as someone needs to pay for it and the burden is falling on the consumer.' Chancellor Rachel Reeves has come under increasing pressure to act on spiralling inflation after prices rose by more than expected in the year to June. In 2023, shoplifting added £133 to the cost of an average household's shopping bill for the year, according to the Centre For Retail Research. The Sun on Sunday's own research suggests the new cost is nearly £147 — a ten per cent increase. There were 516,971 shoplifting crimes last year, according to the Office for National Statistics, which is a 20 per cent increase on 2023 when 429,873 offences were recorded. I pinched £30m worth of goods as UK's most prolific shoplifter to get my daily hit of heroin - I've been jailed 28 times In its annual crime survey of major retailers, the British Retail Consortium found that violence and abuse against shop workers rose by 50 per cent, with more than 2,000 incidents recorded on average each day. BRC head of communications Tom Holder added: 'Shoplifting costs retailers billions a year, and on top of that there are myriad anti-crime measures that take place — everything from security guards to security tags, CCTV and all the rest. There's also crime costs including vandalism and employee theft that do not come under shop theft or security measures. 'The total cost is about £4.2billion across the entire retail sector. 'The amount lost is a large chunk of the profit margin. And that pushes up costs for everyone.' The Consortium is calling for the Government to crack down on the crime epidemic to prevent prices rising even further. Tom added: 'The increase in shoplifting is concerning for two reasons. First, it pushes up the cost of shopping for everyone. It can make the difference for some households between what they can afford and what they can't. 'The other side is that shoplifting is a major trigger for violence against staff, particularly if they intervene. 'Most theft isn't because Granny can't afford something so she slips a few choice items in her handbag. A large chunk of this is organised crime where people come in and go straight for the high-value goods — the alcohol, cigarettes, electronics and phones — with a group of four or five others, often wielding weapons. 'This crimewave is not being caused by a cost-of-living crisis, with people thinking the only way I can survive is to steal. 'The real rise has been in organised crime and that's not a crime of desperation, it's a crime of opportunities.' Our shoplifting probe has found that major High Street chains are now using alarm tags and stickers, each costing around £50, to protect everything from meals-for-one to make-up brushes. And Ann Summers has become the latest retailer to give its staff body cameras to combat thefts. 7 Rachel Reeves has come under increasing pressure to act on spiralling inflation after prices rose by more than expected in the year to June Credit: EPA 7 Bank of England Governor Andrew Bailey is under pressure to slash interest rates to stimulate growth Credit: Reuters Tesco Express workers in Redhill, Surrey, are attaching security devices to pizzas costing £4.75 as well as Tesco Finest ready meals retailing at £5.25. The alarms go off if someone removes the tags or leaves the store without paying. One exasperated employee told us: 'If they can flog it, they'll take it, even pizzas.' 'Any shop is a target' Meanwhile, at a Sainsbury's Local in crime-ravaged Croydon, South London, trendy Beavertown Neck Oil Session IPA beers selling for £2.25 are also fitted with security tags, as are cans of Sainsbury's gin and diet tonic costing £1.70. Down the road at Boots, entire displays of make-up products worth as little as £3 per item are fitted with anti-theft tags, and three security guards patrol the store. Shelves of confectionery are protected behind specially installed plastic security grills. Experts warn that users of sites such as Vinted, eBay, Facebook Marketplace and TikTok may be unwittingly buying stolen goods. Andrew Goodacre, CEO of the British Independent Retailers Association, is calling for internet giants to do more to stop organised gangs selling their wares online. We are stuck in a vicious circle, with high prices provoking people to steal at the same time as shoplifting forces stores to raise the cost of goods, exacerbating inflation Dr Mahroof He said: 'Previously, it was grocery stores that sold tobacco, alcohol and food that were worst affected. 'Now it seems that any shop is a target. Toy shops, children's clothes shops, hardware stores, health stores — they are all having to take measures to try to reduce the amount of stock they are losing. They are smaller so they can keep a closer eye on things, but they are also more vulnerable to the criminals who seem increasingly emboldened. 'We used to talk about two per cent shrinkage [stock losses] and it's certainly a lot more than that now. 'Organised crime is getting more organised when it comes to shoplifting, and shops are being attacked because the goods are so easy to sell on online platforms to unsuspecting shoppers. We need a way of addressing that. 'The online platforms need to be more rigorous. 'Are these items preloved or pre-stolen? That would be our question. And we think a lot of it is probably stolen.' All the stores mentioned were contacted for comment. SECURITY TAGS ON MONOPOLY AND BOOZE BOARD games including Monopoly and Cluedo were fitted with two forms of security alarms when the Sun on Sunday visited stores this week. They were protected by alarm tags and stickers in TGJones, formerly WHSmith, in Croydon, South London. It comes after serial thief Omar Innis, 32, was spotted by West End cops carrying board games and toys last month. It was the seventh time he had struck in over a month, nicking £1,300 of goods. At Westminster Magistrates' Court, Innis, of North London, pleaded guilty to theft and was jailed for 26 weeks. A spokesman for TGJones said: 'The high street is facing increased levels of crime and we have been taking action to ensure our stores remain welcoming places for our colleagues and customers.' 7 Shopkeeper Ben Selvaratnam in Croydon Credit: Paul Edwards
