BA worker 'suspended for taking backhanders from celebs'
Nov 11, 2015, 6:40 am
#61
Join Date: Jun 2003
Location: London
Posts: 3,459
This is patently not true. With median house prices around 315K in London, it just is not the case that there are "a lot of people with a house of that value."
Well, it may be that in planet DV or planet prospero, or generally planet Flyertalk-GB, there are lots of people who "self-certificated" and purchased house several times "with the maximum gearing each time" and ended up with houses worth over 800K. The idea that this is a typical experience in the population at large is, imo, fanciful and quite simply not borne out by the numbers on median house prices.
It seems to me that some people on this board tend to extrapolate from their own lives and those of their families and friends and assume that they are reasonably representative of a substantial part of the population whereas, in reality, they represent a small proportion towards the higher end of the income distribution.
Really? I am above mid-40s; my income is higher than Ł35K; I live in London; I have changed properties over 3 times and my current house is not remotely near Ł800K. And most of the people around me also have houses which have much lower values than this (when they own a house, that is).
The very fact that you consider it "difficult" for somebody of that age/income not to have a house near Ł800K just shows how much your worldview is shaped by your own personal experience and social circle.
I stated in my first post on this that one should not attempt to extrapolate to the situation of the individual discussed in the article. I stand by this.
Well, it may be that in planet DV or planet prospero, or generally planet Flyertalk-GB, there are lots of people who "self-certificated" and purchased house several times "with the maximum gearing each time" and ended up with houses worth over 800K. The idea that this is a typical experience in the population at large is, imo, fanciful and quite simply not borne out by the numbers on median house prices.
It seems to me that some people on this board tend to extrapolate from their own lives and those of their families and friends and assume that they are reasonably representative of a substantial part of the population whereas, in reality, they represent a small proportion towards the higher end of the income distribution.
Really? I am above mid-40s; my income is higher than Ł35K; I live in London; I have changed properties over 3 times and my current house is not remotely near Ł800K. And most of the people around me also have houses which have much lower values than this (when they own a house, that is).
The very fact that you consider it "difficult" for somebody of that age/income not to have a house near Ł800K just shows how much your worldview is shaped by your own personal experience and social circle.
I stated in my first post on this that one should not attempt to extrapolate to the situation of the individual discussed in the article. I stand by this.
Nov 11, 2015, 7:20 am
#62
Join Date: Jul 2008
Location: All over the place often South Wales and Lake District
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Posts: 4,552
That's only if there is enough in the way of material. I doubt that Diva behaviour is actually as commonplace amongst celebs as it is reported to be. I wouldn't mind betting that a lot of it is invented by PR people to make some of them appear interesting.
Nov 11, 2015, 9:59 am
#63
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2004
Location: LON, ACK, BOS..... (Not necessarily in that order)
Programs: **Mucci Diamond Hairbrush** - compared to that nothing else matters (+BA Bronze)
Posts: 15,124
Blimey, I'm 30 and live in a Ł1.2m property on which I have no mortgage and don't rent, nor am I a HNWI. Goodness knows what theories you throw out there about me based on that and with no other background info...
Personally, I'm quite intrigued by the actual story, does anyone know more about the extent to which this chap was 'bending' the rules?
Personally, I'm quite intrigued by the actual story, does anyone know more about the extent to which this chap was 'bending' the rules?
*it went up not down, before some smart alec steps in to make a joke
Nov 11, 2015, 10:01 am
#64
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Join Date: Jun 2004
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Nov 11, 2015, 10:55 am
#65
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: London
Programs: Mucci Grandee (Upgraded), BA Silver, AZ MilleMiglia
Posts: 3,107
There are about 8.5m people living in Greater London. A median price of 315k means that more than half of those people live in properties worth more than 315k (because on average the properties housing more people will be more expensive than the ones housing fewer people). There could therefore be 5m people living in properties more than 315k. I'm assuming the median price includes rented properties and am ignoring different notional values of the rapidly decreasing amount of social housing.
It's perfectly possible that a third of those live in properties worth more than 800k (2.5 x median), given a reasonable assumption as to the distribution of house prices. That could be almost 2 million people, or over a fifth of the population of Greater London. To me 2 million is "a lot". Even 1 milion would be "a lot" of Londoners.
(And that's just Londoners - there will be many more outside London living in properties worth over 800k.)
Nov 11, 2015, 12:37 pm
#67
Join Date: Jun 2013
Location: UK
Programs: BA GGL, BA Amex Prem, Amex Plat, Hilton Diamond, Sir Crazy8534 de l'ordres des aides de Pucci
Posts: 4,448
Nov 12, 2015, 3:54 pm
#68
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: London
Programs: BA Gold (OneWorld Emerald)
Posts: 218
Seriously - a great bit of salacious gossip is published potentially offering a small insight into the mysterious world of Special Services. Instead of people actually talking about what may have happened here, the thread is a snarky rant where people insult each other about house prices in London and affordability!
Is any actually able to give more detail on the real story behind the headlines, because I think that's what most of us are actually interested in???
Is any actually able to give more detail on the real story behind the headlines, because I think that's what most of us are actually interested in???
Nov 14, 2015, 6:07 pm
#69
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: EY - Gold, BA - Gold
Posts: 512
Seriously - a great bit of salacious gossip is published potentially offering a small insight into the mysterious world of Special Services. Instead of people actually talking about what may have happened here, the thread is a snarky rant where people insult each other about house prices in London and affordability!
Is any actually able to give more detail on the real story behind the headlines, because I think that's what most of us are actually interested in???
Is any actually able to give more detail on the real story behind the headlines, because I think that's what most of us are actually interested in???
Nov 14, 2015, 6:46 pm
#70
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,577
Dec 18, 2015, 3:22 pm
#71
Join Date: Aug 2015
Programs: EY - Gold, BA - Gold
Posts: 512
Dec 18, 2015, 3:29 pm
#72
A FlyerTalk Posting Legend
Join Date: Jan 2002
Posts: 44,577
I haven't seen anything to claim that BA mistreated him in this matter
Dec 18, 2015, 7:19 pm
#73
Join Date: Jul 2010
Posts: 312
The Daily Telegraph - you live with your parents/grandparents.
Financial Times - you bought it via an offshore leveraged buyout on a sale and lease back IPO....
Daily Sport - you're living with Elvis and Shergar.[
The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country.
The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country.
The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care *who* runs the country - as long as she's got big tits.
^^
Financial Times - you bought it via an offshore leveraged buyout on a sale and lease back IPO....
Daily Sport - you're living with Elvis and Shergar.[
The Daily Mirror is read by the people who think they run the country.
The Guardian is read by people who think they *ought* to run the country.
The Times is read by the people who actually *do* run the country.
The Daily Mail is read by the wives of the people who run the country.
The Financial Times is read by people who *own* the country.
The Morning Star is read by people who think the country ought to be run by *another* country.
The Daily Telegraph is read by the people who think it is.
Sir Humphrey: Prime Minister, what about the people who read The Sun?
Bernard Woolley: Sun readers don't care *who* runs the country - as long as she's got big tits.
^^