Kirstie Allsopp in Saturday's Times:
If I could do one thing this year it would be to persuade people that second-hand and home-made presents are not in any way second-rate. I have no concept that there is anything shameful about them. This may be because I was brought up seeing the worth in second-hand pieces because my father worked for Christie’s...
It gets even better:
My other half, Ben, and I live in a huge house in East Devon that we couldn’t possibly afford to furnish unless we used recycled goods...
Forbidden Bible Verses — Genesis 10:21-32
5 hours ago
8 comments:
Poor little Kirsty, my heart bleeds.
I am sure that Christie's would not be impressed at the suggestion that they are purveyors of second hand goods.
Oh Mark you do surprise me. I thought Kirstie was every thinking man's crumpet.
B, and Kirsty's heart bleeds for those loveable old pensioner couples sitting on a (largely) tax-free, unearned multi-million pound gain.
Sub, glad to see you're back and blogging. Kirsty is unmitigated evil, AFAIAC, she is the public face of Home-Owner-Ism (and the Tories hang on her every word, of course).
"I am sure that Christie's would not be impressed at the suggestion that they are purveyors of second hand goods."
But they are, literally. Despite KA being "unmitigated evil", I have to agree with her, it's the quality that counts. Quality "second-hand" or "home made" stuff beats new tat hands down.
I take it you didn't watch her series about how she furnished her house? There was a darling section where she took some vintage fabric to a sweet little woman and had her run up some custom-cushions. What was also interesting about it was that it was burbling away in the background of A&E where we were sitting. For a long while we thought it was a children's programme as her voice goes all sing-song.
That said, she put in a much better performance than I would have predicted on QT, and that was also the opinion of the hatchet-throwing jury at Biased BBC (I hang out on David Vance's Live Chat sometimes).
Kirsty had also lost a stone and looked peach-perfect. You've got your work cut out on this one - she's very good and she strikes a profound chord with many voters.
Which is not to say she's right, but shifting people on this issue is like trying to empty a swimming pool with a teaspoon.
B, It is the quality that counts - except when it comes to housing, where it's scarcity that counts. That's all you're paying for, and that is exactly how Kirsty likes it.
WOAR, I did watch and episode or two, it was more parody singularity - she claimed she was trying to show people how to save money by 'making their own' but actually she was showing off how stupendously rich she is by having everything hand-made.
Her performance on QT was the same old tired Home-Owner-Ist propaganda, which is quite easy - all it requires is a complete lack of understanding of economics and a reverence for people who happen to have made massive unearned gains. And every three minutes play the "Old Widow Bogey".
"I take it you didn't watch her series about how she furnished her house? "
I don't have a TV and, even if I did, I doubt I would have. So I'm a bit ignorant about KA. It appears she's only accidentally right.
Mark, quality counts in housing, too, or perhaps that's just me.
Bayard: "Mark, quality counts in housing, too, or perhaps that's just me."
Exactly! When have I ever said anything different? It's basic economics.
First time buyer has limited budget. Purchase price = building plus land. As the NIMBYs are such a powerful cartel, it is almost impossible to get new planning. Ergo, supply of land kept far below equilibrium level. Ergo, price of residential land vastly inflated (to an average of £100,000 per home). Ergo, well over half the price of a house is the planning permission. Ergo, our FTB has so little money left over to spend on the actual building that we end up with rabbit hutches. This is what the NIMBY's want! And as a powerful cartel, this is what they get.
Why anybody would sentence their own children to a lifetime of mortgage debt in a rabbit hutch is a mystery to me, but hey...
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