Why are things so expensive?

[43066]

standard trader rates around here start at £300 / day, and twice that for some trades, eg plumbers)

And twice that also for Avanti West Coast’s finest to work a rest day. We should compare traincrew wages with plumbers rather than nurses, going forward .

 

[Bald Rick]

And twice that also for Avanti West Coast’s finest to work a rest day. We should compare traincrew wages with plumbers rather than nurses, going forward .

I have it on good authority that plumbers in Preston are around a third of the price

 

[43066]

I have it on good authority that plumbers in Preston are around a third of the price

You’re not wrong. However, I could tell you my views on whether northern/shire counties based drivers should take a pay cut to fund a proper differential for London men*, but it would be against ASLEF’s “egalitarian” principles, so then I’d have to kill you .

*a handsome 5 bedder on my road in Sarf London/Kent borders, admittedly a leafy and posh bit of it, went for £3.5m last year. My much more modest property is worth a fraction of that but, based on discussions with a colleague, also about as much as two or three houses in parts of the East Midlands, and with commensurately larger mortgage payments, yet I only earn £3k PA more than Derby men do! How is that fair!?

 

[Bald Rick]

yet I only earn £3k PA more than Derby men do! How is that fair!?

Unity is strength

 

[Starmill]

Not round here there isn’t. There ‘s a large, new, 4 bedroom house for sale not far from me. £2m. The land cost £700k, and the build was more than that again (I spoke to the builder).

There’s no 4 bedroom houses of any size within 15 miles of where I live for sale at less than £400k, new or otherwise.

It's probably worth pointing out that by land area you're lucky / unlucky (depending on your point of view) to have chosen the small slice where land just so happens to cost that much. Even if you count it by population, the majority of the UK population doesn't live in places where the empty plot costs £700k for a four bedroom house. I bet it's a relatively tight fit of a four bed by a continental comparison too.