MPs save kitchen cabinet

We're desperately in need of a new kitchen so I think I'll have to become a member of parliament. MPs have just voted to retain their so-called John Lewis list with allowances for home improvements - such as £10,000 for a new kitchen - and other "essentials" like a wide screen TV (up to £750).

The problem is I'm just not sure which party to join. I suppose the obvious choice would be the Monster Raving Loony Party but, wait, the Church of the Militant Elvis Party sounds interesting.

With 26 names on the ballot paper, the Haltemprice and Howden by election, forced by the resignation of Tory MP David Davis, is fielding the largest number of candidates that anyone can remember.

This suggests to me that it is time that election deposits need to rise. If so many people are prepared to risk losing their £500 deposits, perhaps the economy is not in quite such bad shape after all.

Air travel shock

Having just returned from a short holiday in the US I feel compelled to share our catalogue of travel experiences as a new report from MPs revealed that passengers suffered flight delays totalling 2,434 years at Heathrow airport last year.

It all started when we drove to Heathrow and parked in the long stay car park. The car park bus rolled up as expected. Imagine our surprise at the terminal as we passed through security without a hitch.

Late take off

The plane was slightly late taking off but made up the delay en route. Compounding this early impression of smooth efficiency, we found we had space between our seats that allowed us to spread out. The film system worked normally and the airline food was fine.

Airport queues

When we reached Kennedy airport, however, we couldn't believe our eyes. Lined up before the immigration desks were the shortest of queues. Staff were considerate and friendly.

But taking the Amtrak to Washington was something else. Yes, that's right, it was a train and it worked very well.

Astonishing sequence

The taxis in New York and Washington: what can I say? They were pretty good - nice guys, earned their tips. So what about the buses? They were just great. Convenience personified; cheap too.

And the flight back from Dulles to Heathrow? Comfortable all the way, an early arrival, and there was our car at the end, giving us an easy drive home.

After this astonishing sequence of none events that failed to ruin our holiday I can think of just two words: never again.

House prices and the "vampire trade"

I've just been listening to Evan Davis presenting his series on house prices. I had hoped to provide a link to listen again but BBC Radio 4 doesn't seem to have extended this service to his programme. A pity, although the latest programme is repeated tonight if you are reading this in what Americans call "real time" and we call "now" (i.e. on the day this blog appears).

There is a shortage of housing in the UK caused partly by social changes (more couples living apart, people living longer, higher immigration) and partly by a house-building programme that is not meeting demand. Another issue is the 250,000 second homes in the UK that could end the shortage overnight were they released on to the market.

George Monbiot has described second home owners as "among the most selfish people in Britain". He calls it a "vampire trade".That's a bit harsh in my view, but there is no doubt that second-home buying has created ghost villages in the Cotswolds and other so-called rural retreats while depriving the locals who live and work there of the opportunity to own an affordable home for themselves.

There was a spate of fire bombing by Welsh Nationalists when English second home buyers moved heavily in to Wales during the 1970s. That's not the solution but it does demonstrate the strength of feeling that can be stirred up in the second home market.

We (that's Gill and me) could afford to enter the second home market and have sometimes thought about buying one, but I wouldn't know what to do with it. I know instinctively that it would become a worry. When we first came to the south we kept our house in the north for three years and rented in Surrey. But the old place was starting to get a bit fusty. It needed to be lived in. Then there was the extra furniture we needed and it was just too far away.

A cottage in the south would be a different kind of worry. Suppose I had a lot of my books there and I suddenly needed to look at one? Or if I needed a favourite coat or hat? I like all those things within reach. No, when I'm good and ready to live in the country I'll go and live there so that I can upset the locals 100 per cent of the time.

I'm wondering whether the government should try to deter second home ownership by taxing it. It already does so in the capital gains tax that is attached to the sale of any second home that has risen in value (so just about all of them). Stamp tax is another deterrent but not enough and it also applies to the houses we live in. Perhaps there should be a tax attached only to the purchase of a second home or a tax related to the days that a house stands empty. Of course this would be unpopular with MPs, most of whom also own second homes.

Another stimulant might be to lift capital gains tax on second home sales, although this would make them even more attractive as an investment. Perhaps the government should try social engineering instead, adjusting taxation so that it makes marriage, financially, a much more desirable prospect than living apart. At the same time it could make it more desirable than what used to be called "living over the brush".

It's about time that we did something to restore the concept of "commitment" in society. At the same time we should think about another "c" word: community. You don't get that much with second homes.