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Unless there are more properties this merely substitutes a shortage of homes to buy with a shortage of houses to rent. As a generality those at the bottom of the economic pile with most of life's challenges will still be unable to buy and have nowhere to rent. Landlords do not exploit existing...

Increasing house prices may have rather more to do with interest rates which govern affordability. In 1990 the average mortgage interest rate was ~10%. On a £100k 25 year mortgage the monthly repayments would be £908. Interest rates then fell slowly until ~2010 when ~4% was the norm until...

Graph showing mortgage to salary ratio for the last 40 years courtesy of : Mortgage to salary It is understandable why folk are feeling the pain now with the rise in interest rates over the last 18 months. But based on history it may just be a temporary blip - interest rates are more volatile...

The benefit may not be in reducing search requests as quality improved - it is entirely possible more search requests would result due to increased quality of the output. The real question is whether the additional cost/environmental impact of AI searches would optimise the actions resulting...

Our new political masters have a plan to raise £5.1bn by reducing tax evasion by the end of the parliament - lets see whether they actually do any better than their predecessors. I can't help but think those who blame the fat cats and tax evasion for all our economic woes are broadly balanced...

Farming will continue to undergo further fundamental shifts in technology and practice. The days when farming was undertaken by horny handed sons of the soil toiling in a rural idyll are long gone, currently replaced by machinery and extensive use of pesticides and chemicals. Industrial and...

Civil servants are often described as serial monogamists - intensely loyal in providing a service to whoever is in political charge. It is an essential skill that they are produce a report which is capable of whatever interpretation a government minister wants to apply. I can understand why...

Looking again - cavity walls started to become common from 1920 (not 2019 typo) onwards - but the transition took several decades. Post WW2 most construction was cavity wall.

The UK has a housing stock of 28,5m units. In some areas, possibly more generally prosperous, folk pay a premium for older properties having character and charm. Modern "boxes" are of less interest. 20% of UK housing units (5.8m) were built before 2019 when property was typically built...

Star Trek launched in 1966. Technology was science fiction - the product of a fertile imagination detached from reality. We looked in wonder at the "communicator" never thinking that one day we would all have a smartphone whose only weakness was an inability to "beam me up" We now rely upon...

Assume both AI and humans have access to the same sets of data - digital searches and (perhaps) film and other recordings of various experts and non- experts providing inputs to a question. Asked a common question - let's stick with sharpening for the moment - humans may come up with a range...

Replacing electricity generated using fossil fuels with green energy sources seems entirely sensible. The cost of so doing will be huge - particularly as demand grows with decarbonisation of transport and bans on domestic gas boilers.. There are impacts arising from all forms of green...

Fully understand the point - also appreciate the attractiveness of "period" rather than modern boxes. Having moved recently I made the very explicit choice to go for lower maintenance rather than charm. Apparently ~15% of UK housing stock was built before 1920 and would probably have solid...

An individual doing a google search independently would find exactly the same set of results and, probably, form precisely the same mistaken conclusion. ChatGPT at least ensures (I assume) that all highly rated digital data is accessed - us humans are frequently less thorough!

Like many I am on a wide range of meds for various accumulated problems. It includes a few which are preventative rather than specific. I was convinced that taking unnecessary meds was a slippery slope towards over reliance and potential side effect conflicts. So I tried to have an...

The quality of all information and knowledge is reliant upon the source. This forum frequently picks up on gross errors in woodworking practice from videos posted on-line - often dangerous. Talk to an "expert" and we get a single view. Talking to many takes longer and may help form a...

It is a characteristic of the public sector - certainly those I observed over 20 years from the inside. The pubic sector is inherently risk averse - any departure from agreed processes, can draw public criticism undermining decisions made. To avoid censure and preserve a career trajectory it...

I registered for ChatGPT yesterday out of interest and have just searched for "rectify hollow oilstones". The response within about 2 seconds is reproduced below - it generally seems very sensible although the very experienced may have small variations. If ChatGPT can produce answers to this...

In law there seems to be little difference between caravan and mobile home. The common characteristic and definition seems to be a structure which is designed or adapted for human habitation and is capable of being moved from one place to another. Sheds fail, usually missing cookers, beds...

The Prolongation of Parliament act passed in 1940 was a response to an immediate, real threat with a high level of political and public support for actions which could win the war. The invasion of Poland and France, and the prospect of Dunkirk and the Blitz would be mighty motivators! I doubt...