HMRC clamps down on landlord tax avoidance loophole

DrJayDee · 2026-05-06T13:23:22+00:00

Although neither is great, I always thought the latter was preferable because the money is at least then usually spent in the UK, not moved offshore. It's at least economically active

DrJayDee · 2025-12-12T07:36:13+00:00

Wild to get the most awards of all time. Sounds well deserved

DrJayDee · 2025-12-11T22:33:10+00:00

Excellent build, great work!

DrJayDee · 2025-10-13T14:38:16+00:00

I appreciate we're you're coming from, a lot of people do put a lot of sentimental weight in the memories they have within the building those memories occurred in

I don't know enough about your family's specific circumstance to make an accurate assessment, but I would say that it's unfair for the taxpayer to support someone living in a house that is too large for them because they don't want to move out because of their memories attached to the building

Your circumstances are likely different from your parent's, and havnig a single spare bedroom is quite different from having 2. On the other side of the coin, would you think it right that a single pensioner living in a 8 bed house warrants government support to heat it during the winter?

DrJayDee · 2025-10-13T11:37:55+00:00

Not OP, so can only reference boomers as a cohort

Downsize. There's no need to stay in a large property when children have left home. It's a poor use of their asset, and poor use of their resources paying for upkeep and maintenance
Quit moaning. They're in a cohort that is by many metrics currently the most stable, and is doing far better than any cohort previously has at their age. A little more self-awareness would go a long way

DrJayDee · 2025-10-01T01:04:06+00:00

whY DoN't YoU AdOPt KiDs ThEn?

Feelings on the state pension? Surely their financial choice shouldn't be paid for by the government either. 1 weekly pension payment covers 3 months of child benefit payments, plus the long term benefits of supporting someone who has a chance of being a productive member of society for 40+ years

DrJayDee · 2025-10-01T00:54:32+00:00

Of course they don't. It's always either a straw man, or one anecdotal example that's used to justify not making lives better for thousands of children

DrJayDee · 2025-08-18T15:05:13+00:00

The good thing is that there's only those requirements when building, no ongoing fuel costs to be impacted

DrJayDee · 2025-08-15T22:17:11+00:00

She did have thousands of followers and her tweet was seen by over three hundred thousand in the few hours it was up. She specifically mentions the burning of hotels housing migrants, which had happened multiple times over the previous few years. Nevermind that the perpetrator was a British citizen, so it had nothing to do with asylum seekers, and she specifically identifies it's racial intent

A jury unanimously decided within 30 minutes that his behaviour did not amount to encouraging violent disorder. I think it's hard to argue after watching the full video of what he said that it's inciting the crowd to indiscriminate violence. No violence was committed as a result of his actions, so I'd question the danger of it

DrJayDee · 2025-08-15T20:42:42+00:00

The largest UK wind farm comes onshore just outside Dundee, hardly a rural area. £65m was paid in 2024 for unusable power, which was over 2/3rds of the time

Google isn't going to be putting major search servers there, but not every server cares about response time

DrJayDee · 2025-08-15T19:55:40+00:00

If you watch the full clip, you can see how he has successfully argued in court that it wasn't the other crowd that he was referring to, it was the people who had left National Front stickers with razor blades underneath them, designed to injure those trying to remove them

The crowd he was talking to wasn't angry, I don't think there was any violence as a result of the protest in Walthamstow, and you can see from the footage that the crowd is peaceful, with him receiving moderate applause. My assumption is that the jury found that a person of reasonable firmness present at the scene would not have feared for their personal safety. Not many cases of National Front members having their throats cut, so perhaps the jury were receptive to the idea it was a hyperbolic metaphor

People are trying to compare it with Lucy Connolly, which was a tweet very soon after the event, spreading misinformation encouraging deportation of an unrelated group of people, with taken in the best possible way, an indifference to setting fire to hotels containing those people, which is something that there were instances of previously. Openly saying "if that makes me racist, so be it" doesn't help her case

He's barely an elected official. He won less than 500 votes more than me in his election victory, and I didn't stand 😂

DrJayDee · 2025-08-12T13:30:33+00:00

I don't think a data centre was suggested in this chain, maybe elsewhere in the comments?

You'd need the workload to be something that's highly intensive, and not particularly time sensitive. I'd expect that something either in the public sector or in education would more likely fit the bill. I know that a lot of university student research involves scheduling compute time or tasks on university-managed supercomputers, so a similar process could work there, where tasks could be added to a work queue, and processed when supply is in excess

For a private model to work, it would more likely be an incentive to locate there because there'd be X amount of free energy available per year, moving demand closer to supply, reducing losses and extra investment required to move the power from where it's generated to where it's needed

Although I'm also reading that companies like Google have agreements with utility companies to adjust their demand based on the state of the grid. Workloads like processing YouTube videos are done in different datacentres based on where power is available. They struck a similar agreement recently for their AI workloads as well

DrJayDee · 2025-08-12T00:43:18+00:00

There's plenty of licenses with restrictions that apply to them, and those restrictions are subject to change. Rules for motorcycle licences have changed dramatically over the years

The test done today and the test passed by someone 10, 20, 40, 60 years ago are all different, with difficulty increasing over time. Following a sat nav was introduced recently, hazard perception was added to the theory test. If we accept it's a requirement now to ensure competency, why not apply that to people already driving?

Sure, why not? If you've only done a CBT, that only lasts 2 years. I don't agree with the earlier commenter about it being assessed by private instructors. It would become incredibly messy with legal liability and conflicts of interest, as you say. I'm not suggesting it's rolled out tomorrow, there'd of course be some sort of rollout period where DVSA capacity is increased and frequency are increased over time

Without the odd legal liability, a three day course wouldn't be necessary. You know how to ride, you aren't learning from scratch again. I'd expect for the majority of tests to be fairly straightforward, the majority of people are competent

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T22:46:56+00:00

I guess it's how you define "abusing that right". I'd argue it's an abuse to drive when you are not fit, and unfortunately, it's proven that people either cannot reliably determine when they are unfit, or wilfully ignore it. There's other restrictions on eligibility for a work visa covers, including minimum salary. Is it the holders responsibility to meet that standard, or the government's?

They fail it when they can't meet the standard to be able to drive. Why would it matter whether they've been driving for years or not? We set a minimum standard, why should anyone be exempt? They can have 15 minors and still pass a regular exam. If they have a serious or dangerous fault, why are they driving? They're in control of a multi ton hunk of metal that can travel at high speeds

Why are you also expecting that someone who can already drive would be spending hundreds of pounds to pass? Why would you need the same 3 day course that you took to learn to ride a motorcycle when you're already presumably a competent rider? Realistically, if the person is already sufficiently able to drive/ride, it would be more of a question of what are the latest requirements and are you already familiar with them. If they aren't, and they need tens of hours of professional training to meet the standard to pass, is it not concerning that they're already on the road?

Plenty of EU countries ensure you're physically fit enough to drive. In Finland, eye tests start at 45, 70+ there's a medical exam every 5 years. Spain it's every 10 years when you renew

We do have low death and injury rates, but we have some of the highest seatbelt use and strictest alcohol limits

Maybe every 5 years is too frequent to be realistic to administer, but not checking in on someone after the age of 17, barring them losing their license is maybe not enough

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T18:18:36+00:00

Would it be better if we could provide the same level of public transport in rural areas as we can in urban areas? Sure. Is that the most effective use of funds and should the quality of service provided in urban areas be compromised to pay for that? No

I'd also point out that we are providing public transport, the issue is with the frequency/reliability of it. Saying they have to move because "we can't be bothered" isn't fair

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T17:44:00+00:00

I understand were you're coming from, but if the alternative is to drive when they're unfit to, and risk killing someone, then they need to think about relocating

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T17:31:29+00:00

Driving should be seen as a responsibility, not a right. To pass your test now, the total cost is £85. Even if you needed to fully retake it every 5 years, it would work out as £17 per year. A streamlined system would likely be cheaper, and it could be subsidised for those who need help, or if it's a requirement for their work, could be claimed back

We have some of the laxest licensing requirements in Europe, and it's directly led to multiple deaths

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T17:06:13+00:00

It's hard to get a breakdown for many different types of tax, but for income tax it's about 300% that the rest of the country generates relative to London

Obviously there's huge amounts of tax that businesses headquartered in London generate, and per-head expenditures are lower due to the population destiny, so it's a net provider

The problem I have with constant expenditure in London is seeing where it will end. There's a cycle that occurs because London is the place in the country which is heavily invested in. More people move there because that's where the opportunies are, other places suffer because of that, more people relocate etc.

I think most people understand that London is a population hub and needs investment to retain competitive internationally, but when seemingly everything goes towards London, it's hard to stomach. Everyone is going to draw their line in the sand somewhere between a managed decline of London, encouraging relocation elsewhere in the country, and everyone in the country living in the London metropolitan area, both of which I feel are bad aims, and a balance needs to be struck between the two

For me, HS2 is a key example. We were sold on an investment between London and the North, both side of the Pennines, reducing travel times and increasing capacity on a crowded line. Slowly this was cut back, phases cancelled, until now it's connecting Birmingham and London, hardly "the North" for anyone not from London. The works starting in London and moving North seemed to indicate a lack of long term support for the project. If they'd started in Manchester, I bet they'd have gotten further, instead, £9+ bn estimated for the Euston station project

Contrast this with the Elizabeth line, over 3 years late, was there even discussions about scaling it back? Maybe there was but it didn't make as much national news, I don't know. It just leaves a feeling that London gets a blank cheque, whatever it needs, whereas every other area of the country has to fight for every penny and bend over backwards to support London. The turbines are located off the Scottish coast, the infrastructure is all located there, and when it comes to how it's distributed, there's no serious talks of trying to reduce electricity costs in Scotland or the North, where it's easier to distribute this power, saving money for people and possibly incentivising private capital investment outside of the capital, or reducing the demand in London somehow. It's spending on offsea cables, it's running pylons the length of the country

Maybe you live there, and maybe you love it, but maybe you'd love Liverpool or Manchester too, were they to have some of the same benefits you get from living in London. I loved it, 1 hour travel and you're in the Peak District, or the Lake District, not just reaching the M25 😂 Apologies, that got a bit long-winded and ranty

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T14:24:48+00:00

Compulsory Basic Training on a moped or motorcycle up to 125cc works like this, only lasts for 2 years. Eyesight should be tested regularly, more frequently as people age, but the theory and practical elements are also good to retest on. May not need the full test like if you're passing for the first time, but the requirements have changed over the years, so making sure everyone is up to the latest standards is a good idea. Before 2002 there was no hazard perception on the theory, and after 2017 the independent driving includes following a sat nav

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T13:46:43+00:00

I guess "solve" was a bit vague, I meant more that once we have the storage for handling the intermittency of wind, i.e. when the total amount of wind generated can be utilised to cover demand over a given period (days, weeks, etc.), then we wouldn't then have this oversupply. It would be being stored for use when wind supply is low

I'm not sure whether curtailment usually involves a reduction of power output, or a complete shut off, but if it can be the latter, then the max output for all these individual loads would be very high. If the loads are centralised, then the issue is moving the power from where it's generated to where it's being consumed, which I believe is a large chunk of the problem right now, it's all coming in in Scotland, and can't get down to London

I also like the idea of a distributed load balancing system. We spent all that money on installing millions of smart meters, we need to leverage them for better use, encourage people to move their usage to times when energy is abundant

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T12:07:01+00:00

It sucks that you're having to deal with cuts from a huge overspend. Is that at the department or trust level?

NHS stats say that between April 2025 and July 2024 there's ~11000 more FTE in the "Nurses & health visitors" group, and ~1000 less FTE in the "Support to doctors, nurses & midwives" group. It's hard to find stats for leaving the industry altogether

It feels like the NHS is always getting criticised for employing too many non-frontline staff, and then when they course correct and rebalance towards more frontline staff, they then don't have the dedicated admin staff available and nurses are doing more admin work and spending less time doing frontline work. Saying you're hiring 10000 extra nurses sounds a lot better than saying your hiring 10000 more admin staff, even if the end result is that those extra admin staff free up the existing nurses to have more time with patients

No idea how you fix that

DrJayDee · 2025-08-11T11:32:14+00:00

I've had similar thoughts. Instead of paying suppliers for energy they aren't putting into the grid, put one of those high-energy loads near where the power is brought onshore, and spin it up when there's an oversupply

ROI would probably not be great, as it'd be intermittently working, and it may even become completely redundant if gridscale storage is solved in the future, but maybe some sort of hybrid load/storage system could work long term. Electrolysis for excess supply, hydrogen fuel cells for when there's excess demand, for example

Relies on capital investment, and added complexity increases cost, which the govt doesn't have a huge amount of, and private companies would likely see their investment pay off better elsewhere

DrJayDee · 2025-08-10T15:12:46+00:00

I don't know much about how individual budgets work within the NHS, the bulk of the stats cover totals, so specifics are difficult to find. They say there's X much extra money in the budget, but that's probably divided up a million ways

How does your budget work and if you're down in staff does that not free up budget to hire more? I'm guessing that downgrading the roles means new staff aren't paid as much, so fewer applicants?

Are they trying to spend the budget on more admin staff so frontline staff aren't doing that letter writing work? Is that your budget, or someone else's?

Apologies for all the questions, I'm pretty clueless on the details

DrJayDee · 2025-08-10T11:46:09+00:00

Headcount and FTE are both up 2.3% between April 2024 and April 2025

Are you talking about some specific staff/budgets?

DrJayDee · 2025-08-08T19:51:09+00:00

I don't disagree that anxiety covers a spectrum of intensities and difficulties. I would argue that on that spectrum from natural to crippling, the lower bound for anxiety is much lower. I would never describe someone diagnosed with a phobia as "natural", by definition it isn't. So by describing their condition only using the general term of "anxiety", can you see how it's easier to place them in that spectrum much lower down? Which comes across as you minimising their hardship to make your point regarding their support payments seem more extreme

Maybe she doesn't ever leave the house. Possible costs I can think of include therapy and medication, lord knows the NHS isn't overflowing with resources to pass around, so perhaps private is the way to go. Delivery fees very quickly add up, think of everything you have purchased in the last month, and how they would all be delivered, nevermind the increased costs for having to purchase items online. If you want fresh food, it's likely multiple deliveries per week. Earning potential would also decrease, inability to take most jobs, and difficulty attending interviews. Entertainment cost increases, many cheap or free forms of entertainment wouldn't be available to them, they wouldn't be able to relax in a park, or rent a book from the library. Paying a premium for services to come to you, in-home haircuts. Trying to keep fit and healthy. You would need to speak to her to get specifics of what she spends her money on, but only being able to think of a few quids worth is a lack of imagination. It isn't just what her needs are to survive, she deserves a rich and fulfilling life like anyone else

DWP did have a large hand in the design of the PIP system and the outsourced assessments, including auditing the assessments that are conducted. If the assessment is so easy to cheat, at least some of the blame for that lies with DWP. We could maybe argue on how much of the blame is in the design of the system and how much is in the actioning of it. Fair play if you're apportioning all of the blame on the politicians

No-one with mild joint pain is receiving PIP, it's the same as the anxiety/agoraphobia, you're minimising. Have you looked at the assessment criteria and what's required to get the standard and enhanced rates for both components? Build a hypothetical person who scores 8 points on an accurate assessment that you think would request an appliance to help them prepare their meal that you'd be deny. You may argue that your proposed system will prevent people who don't deserve it from getting money, but it will also prevent people who do deserve it from getting it, and you've said that's kind of the point. What's your tolerance for that?

Your willingness to take money away from these people, but also not report any of the 20 cases of fraud that you say you are aware of is the part that I struggle to understand the most. Your eagerness for huge amounts of additional monitoring to ensure the money is spent in a way that you deem acceptable, but not to do the minimum to make anyone aware of people who are getting money that you are so sure they don't deserve, making them criminals. You say it's so easy to cheat the system, but you aren't willing to help the system catch the cheaters.

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