Simple Poll - Are you fed up enough to consider leaving the Island for good?

[Venus]

1 hour ago, The Phantom said:

Who is that then?  There are virtually no properties to let.  This is half the mystery of the problem at the moment.  There are loads of properties being built and sold.  But few of them are for or to first time buyers or the rental market. 

Just take a look at any of the local sites for accommodation.  Every day there are people moving over or intending to for jobs and can't find anywhere to rent.  Or if you see an ad for a rental, within minutes it seems to be gone or twenty people tagged. 

If Govt want to increase the population or returning students, they need to increase the rental market.  Very few people would come here initially and buy a property straightaway. 

100%. We need more BTL investors if anything. There are very valid reasons why people want to rent and it is virtually impossible at the moment, probably not helped by the landlord bill that came in a few years ago and resulted in many landlords giving up.

[Cambon]

22 minutes ago, Venus said:

100%. We need more BTL investors if anything. There are very valid reasons why people want to rent and it is virtually impossible at the moment, probably not helped by the landlord bill that came in a few years ago and resulted in many landlords giving up.

This is correct. Many potential landlords now just purchase property and just leave it as an asset. If nobody lives there, no rates to pay, no standards to maintain, no tenants to cause damage. With the current situation, it is almost a win, win for them. 

[The Phantom]

27 minutes ago, Venus said:

100%. We need more BTL investors if anything. There are very valid reasons why people want to rent and it is virtually impossible at the moment, probably not helped by the landlord bill that came in a few years ago and resulted in many landlords giving up.

Indeed.  I didn't want to sound like a broken record Govt bashing again, but their attempts to meddle in the sector, by creating an excessively onerous Landlord Registration, has unsurprisingly caused a mass exodus from the market.  Who would have thought?

My other thought (bearing in mind the recent population stats) is that it is old retired people moving over or downsizing that is knee capping the 'affordable' segment of the market. 

[Primator]

5 hours ago, PeachTea said:

Yes - I have previously lived on the island and left 14 years ago . I returned back to live on the island again a couple of years back as my family all live here ( I am not Manx).

Despite finding a job which pays me a fair wage for the role and being closer to my family I regret moving back. I do not believe the island has progressed in anyway since I left back in 2007 , if anything things have gone downhill.  The main areas I am struggling to tolerate include:-

• Cost of services/ - for example, telecoms, utilities 
• Living costs - rental costs have always been high on the island however they have spiralled to unacceptable levels. As i said earlier i earn a fair wage for my role yet i am still spending 40% of my income on rental costs and 25/30% of living ( ie bills, food, fuel, - the basics that i need to get by). 
• The state of the roads . I have been driving over 10 years now and since returning i have had to replace 7 tyres. 2 of which just  needed replacing due to wear and tear however the other 5 i attribute to the piss poor maintenance of the roads. 
• The 2% tax increase . This will have a negative impact on my income. I am really unhappy about the increase and despite what Allinson says i do NOT believe for one minute this is a temporary measure nor do i believe that this money will be ringfenced for Manx Care.  If i could be sure that it would be I would be unhappy about the increase but accept it is very much needed.
• Cost of the Ferry/ Flights and lack of reliability - Whilst i appreciate we have had some shocking weather this winter i cant ever recall the boat being cancelled as frequently. The costs for a car and a passenger are ludicrous . I personally think £300+ for a return journey is much too expensive. Given the SP are owned by the IOMG they should not be trying to profit. I also believe that residents should be entitled to a cheaper fare with residents providing proof that they are indeed a resident of the island. This could be done at the point of booking - for example uploading a letter with a name/address on or a driver licence ( the former could be shown at check in). it could also work in a similar fashion at the airport.  The Manxman is not fit for purpose. It seems to me that the ship will mostly be fine during the summer months when the seas are calmer which is great but not in winter. 

There are other issues which annoy me . (Appreciate that these may not factor for a lot of people but they add to the " reasons to not live on the island list)

• limited banking choices. I miss having a Monzo account. I like the set up and the option of having multiple "pots" to put money into. 
• Poor shopping choices. This is both groceries wise ( i miss Aldi/Lidl) as well as other shops ( clothes, shoes, electricals, home furnishing shops)
• Driving standards. I don't know why there seems to be so many drivers on the IOM that don't understand the basics of driving. Bugbears include: lack of indication, not using headlights in foggy conditions,  giving way to drivers on the left so everyone sits like a knob waiting to see who makes the first move, drivers who seem to have to overtake no matter what, drivers who just drive at 30mph and slow down to 15mph every corner. 
• Lack of other facilities - a modern cinema, bowling alley ( the one in Ramsey is rubbish and smells of chip fat), other indoor activities for when the weather is dire.

 

 

 

You’re the head of Locate Isle of Man and I claim my £5. 

[code99]

4 hours ago, Cambon said:

NHS Levy on wages of working people is a complete con. Just another tax. 
They should introduce a GST style additional levy on sales, where everybody contributes, including tourists, pensioners, and other non-tax payers who can potentially benefit from our health service, 

My interpretation of Dr Allinson's confusing mutterings during Tynwald's Budget sessions, and also his 'fact-free' Tax Strategy, is that this new tax is likely to be applied to every penny of every pound earned, by everyone (there will be few if any exemptions or reductions for any group of residents even those who are financially worst off). Unfortunately, the Tax Strategy document is bereft of anything meaningful i.e., there is no coherent economic logic, no indication of what rate will be used or what kind of 'income' it will be applied to. In the absence of specific information, any conjecture about what this tax will be is bound to be wrong.

Some people think that the proposed NHS Levy will only apply to relatively minor things such as doctor's appointments, including financial penalties for missed appointments. I don't think this expectation is realistic - the Treasury wants to raise extra £20 million a year from this new Levy to 'fund' Manx Care. I am not convinced that charging, say, £15 for a GP appointment or for a visit to A&E will raise anything like that amount. I also don't think many Manx residents will be able to afford 'Jersey style' GP charges - Jersey has a different financial dynamic to the Isle of Man.

In Jersey they pay a Goods and Services Tax, the current rate is 5%; critically, they don't have VAT. If the IOM were to adopt some form of GST regime on top of our existing VAT arrangement with the UK, I can imagine that large parts of the hospitality and retail sectors in particular will struggle to survive. IMHO, this cannot be good for the Island. 

At present we have a Government in disarray e.g., that is splitting into factions and refuses to do what is necessary, which is to reduce the size of CS to a size that is appropriate (and affordable) for a population of only 85,000. The pipe dreams of successive Administrations have cost the Island dearly. Now they are gasping for more hare-brained ideas without a clear and sensible plan to move forward and improve the situation!

Edited March 28 by code99

[GreyWolf]

Many smaller landlords have simply left the market why bother with the hassle of letting and future government interference when you can get an easy 5% interest on your dollar sitting in the bank, when previously a lot of people who maybe bought an extra property because there money in the bank was receiving no interest. 

 

 

[Cambon]

@code99 £20m can easily be raised by increasing employee NI by 1%. Previous DHSS minister said each additional 1% adds £25m to the pot. But why do something simple when an entire new division of government can be created to administer this? 

[Albert Tatlock]

44 minutes ago, GreyWolf said:

Many smaller landlords have simply left the market why bother with the hassle of letting and future government interference when you can get an easy 5% interest on your dollar sitting in the bank, when previously a lot of people who maybe bought an extra property because there money in the bank was receiving no interest. 

 

 

A lot have indeed just pulled out. Some investors buying rental properties here have outsourced the management of their assets (simply because of the threat of legislation) and now we have many more additional middlemen managing rental properties on their behalf - all adding their own 10 to 20% to the rent.

[code99]

20 minutes ago, Cambon said:

@code99 £20m can easily be raised by increasing employee NI by 1%. Previous DHSS minister said each additional 1% adds £25m to the pot. But why do something simple when an entire new division of government can be created to administer this? 

OK, but our ‘economic climate’ is highly influenced by the 'economic climate' in UK, e.g. from April the UK’s NI Employee Contribution Rate will be 8% vs. the IOM’s 11%, so how/ where do we compete?

[Cambon]

26 minutes ago, code99 said:

OK, but our ‘economic climate’ is highly influenced by the 'economic climate' in UK, e.g. from April the UK’s NI Employee Contribution Rate will be 8% vs. the IOM’s 11%, so how/ where do we compete?

I am pretty certain the uk NI position is temporary. Tories know how bad the financial situation in uk is. They also know they will not be returned to power next time. The next election is likely to be after the autumn budget. Expect more tax cuts and £100+ billion tax deficit to pass on to labour. Don’t forget the note labour’s treasury minister left the tories when they lost power. “There is no money. We spent it all!”

[Albert Tatlock]

1 minute ago, Cambon said:

I am pretty certain the uk NI position is temporary. Tories know how bad the financial situation in uk is. They also know they will not be returned to power next time. The next election is likely to be after the autumn budget. Expect more tax cuts and £100+ billion tax deficit to pass on to labour. Don’t forget the note labour’s treasury minister left the tories when they lost power. “There is no money. We spent it all!”

I can't see the Tories doing that...it'll lead straight to another Liz Truss type collapse. Labour might increase NI after a couple of years under the excuse that they'll ring-fence it, but I could see Labour extending the NI threshold of £44k ish to maybe £50k or £60k.

[Cambon]

2 hours ago, Albert Tatlock said:

I can't see the Tories doing that...it'll lead straight to another Liz Truss type collapse. Labour might increase NI after a couple of years under the excuse that they'll ring-fence it, but I could see Labour extending the NI threshold of £44k ish to maybe £50k or £60k.

Already doing it. On CNBC this morning they said the tax cuts announced in the spring budget amounted to an unbalanced funding cut greater than the Liz Truss debacle. 

[P.K.]

Just planning our TT Escape.

Car + 2 an eye-watering £587 return...

[P.K.]

I think the lack of rentals is being viewed the wrong way.

A shortage of supply drives the price up and therefore the profits.

[Albert Tatlock]

It used to be alternative governments...Conservative and Labour and boom, bust, boom. bust.

Now it's alternative governments...Conservative and Labour and bust, bust, bust. bust.