Changes on the High Street

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

It is though - their purpose is to extract rents from those out there genuinely creating something, who ironically can't afford buildings due to the high valuations because of the number of landlords in the market participating in this and restricting overall supply.

They essentially distort the market making genuine entrepreneurship - that which genuinely creates things for the economy and employs people - harder. It'd be welcome for many of these businesses to exit the market.

It is indeed tempting to regard landlords as sitting back, taking people's money whilst those paying do all the hard work to keep up the payments. But the landlords have had to build and pay for the offices; atheir tenants usually have to borrow to fund development of their business - possibly from the same source as the landlords use. It is simply wrong to call the landlords parasites.

But, to give you some headroom, how would you replace these 'parasites' so that factories, offices homes and shops/warehouses can be provided for the entrepreneurs, the people who work for them and the supplies they'll need?

It's a pity that you come up with this crap - it really dents your credibility.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

It is indeed tempting to regard landlords as sitting back, taking people's money whilst those paying do all the hard work to keep up the payments. But the landlords have had to build and pay for the offices; atheir tenants usually have to borrow to fund development of their business - possibly from the same source as the landlords use. It is simply wrong to call the landlords parasites.

But, to give you some headroom, how would you replace these 'parasites' so that factories, offices homes and shops/warehouses can be provided for the entrepreneurs, the people who work for them and the supplies they'll need?

It's a pity that you come up with this crap - it really dents your credibility.

Who built anything before private equity and heavily indebted investment firms began heavily leveraging debt against existing assets to fund further build?

You're missing my point. There will alway be someone building. The costs of doing so would be much lower without these parasites in the market. Lower costs, lower rents, more investment in actual creative parts of the economy rather than rents simply being extracted probably offshore and never to be seen again.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

Who built anything before private equity and heavily indebted investment firms began heavily leveraging debt against existing assets to fund further build?

You're missing my point. There will alway be someone building. The costs of doing so would be much lower without these parasites in the market. Lower costs, lower rents, more investment in actual creative parts of the economy rather than rents simply being extracted probably offshore and never to be seen again.

Fantasy and pie in the sky.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

Fantasy and pie in the sky.

It's only fantasy and pie in the sky because the system is financialised in such a way that it is now unaffordable for small businesses to own their own premises or build their own premises.

As developers are all over any free land of note, and have the assets to borrow against, the system is essentially rigged against the small business owner.

However I personally welcome the demise of the city centre and the financial losses that these companies are about to make. After all, that's capitalism.

[denphone]

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group files for administrators.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...ators-12099962

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/fashion-g...k-of-collapse/

Around 24,000 jobs are at risk as Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group, the owner of the Peacocks and Jaeger brands.

[1andrew1]

Originally Posted by denphone

Edinburgh Woollen Mill Group files for administrators.

https://news.sky.com/story/coronavir...ators-12099962

https://www.lbc.co.uk/news/fashion-g...k-of-collapse/

Oh no, that was one of the previous retail success stories.

[heero_yuy]

Quote from The Sun on Sunday:

Tens of thousands of jobs are under threat due to the “catastrophic” impact caused by the closure of Cineworld, the UK’s biggest cinema chain.

Restaurants, bars, takeaways, *coffee shops, bowling alleys, ice rinks and indoor play centres all face losing *millions of pounds a day in a crushing new blow for our *crisis-hit hospitality industry.

The Sun on Sunday can reveal that due to the ripple effect of *cinema *closures, 8,000 jobs at ten-pin bowling alleys are now at risk — on top of the 1,100 at Pizza Express, 2,000 at Frankie & Benny's and 450 at Pizza Hut already on the brink.

There are also fears for jobs at Nando's, which has 115 restaurants within 100 metres of a cinema.

And up to 400 more employees are under threat at cinema company Odeon, another firm blighted by the delay in releasing the new James Bond film until April 2021

Yesterday Clare Bailey, one of the country’s leading retail and hospitality experts, warned: “The Cineworld closure could be the final nail in the coffin for thousands of firms.”

Domino (sic) effect.

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by heero_yuy

Domino (sic) effect.

What exactly is it we are trying to save here

[denphone]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

What exactly is it we are trying to save here

l would have thought that was blindly obvious..

[papa smurf]

Originally Posted by denphone

l would have thought that was blindly obvious..

We seem to be destroying our society,losing jobs and businesses that may never recover,people losing their homes ,the next generation saddled with crippling debts,so we can protect the nhs an organisation that has imo let us down,you can't see a doctor /get an operation,they are all hiding away,society is heading down the toilet wtf is left to save

[jfman]

There’s no point saving a High Street saddled with high property rents and costs. A High Street of international franchises deserves to die. That’s capitalism in action.

From the ashes we need to develop local jobs enshrined in local communities. There will always be demand for some things - coffee, pizza and lager. We need to ensure that the revenues and profits for these stay in local communities. Not siphoned off into offshore tax havens, or property development funds.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

There’s no point saving a High Street saddled with high property rents and costs. A High Street of international franchises deserves to die. That’s capitalism in action.

From the ashes we need to develop local jobs enshrined in local communities. There will always be demand for some things - coffee, pizza and lager. We need to ensure that the revenues and profits for these stay in local communities. Not siphoned off into offshore tax havens, or property development funds.

First paragraph, first sentence - agreed.

Second & third sentence - dangerous if you're a Commie Symp or similar.

Second paragraph, woefully lacking in depth. Add TVs, phones, etc, etc and then your dream high street falls away because rents will climb as property demand rises. Your position needs to be thought through and explained.

[jfman]

Originally Posted by Sephiroth

First paragraph, first sentence - agreed.

Second & third sentence - dangerous if you're a Commie Symp or similar.

Second paragraph, woefully lacking in depth. Add TVs, phones, etc, etc and then your dream high street falls away because rents will climb as property demand rises. Your position needs to be thought through and explained.

I didn’t say a High Street would be exclusively coffee, pizza and lager - I simply said there’d always be consumer demand for the products. The businesses would largely be viable (and employees have desirable skills) once there is a reset of property costs.

[denphone]

Originally Posted by papa smurf

We seem to be destroying our society,losing jobs and businesses that may never recover,people losing their homes ,the next generation saddled with crippling debts,so we can protect the nhs an organisation that has imo let us down,you can't see a doctor /get an operation,they are all hiding away,society is heading down the toilet wtf is left to save

The point l was making is that there are going to be thousands losing their jobs through no fault of their home.

On the NHS l am staggered that here we are 6 months later and would it not be hard to use some of the hospitals just for Covid 19 services and use some of them for anything that is not Covid 19 related and also apply that to community GP surgeries as well.

That way we could start to deal with the ticking health timebomb where many with health problems are still waiting for important tests and diagnoses.

[Sephiroth]

Originally Posted by jfman

I didn’t say a High Street would be exclusively coffee, pizza and lager - I simply said there’d always be consumer demand for the products. The businesses would largely be viable (and employees have desirable skills) once there is a reset of property costs.

Yes I know. But if you take your two paragraphs together then a High Street much as now in terms of goods offered would be appreciated by the public.

I bear in mind that your observations are bounded by your dislike of "parasites" and "capitalism" as currently in force.

What you want can't happen except if the high street transforms into a combination of housing, local outlets of the type you suggest, banks (LOL), estate agents etc. Is that going to happen? Will people balk at the trick housing developers will pull to up the price of what they are providing?

It's very complicated and requires the strong hand of central government to curb the excesses that would inevitable arise. And all that assumes there is employment for most/all.