So the Axminster catalogue is coming back and I am intrigued to know if that means prices will rise or fall. Particularly for anything sourced outside of the UK such as Axminster’s big machinery.
Publishing a catalogue means printing your pricing out for all to see in black and white. That typically means committing to a price for the life of the catalogue (a year?). Seeing as we have a Brexit deadline of March 2019 to make a decision and a possible “No Deal” scenario that seems like a bold move.
In a post-Brexit world full of uncertainty how do we think Axminster will manage the huge volatility of currency rates and import/export process/duties? Does that mean increasing prices now to protect against those changes in future? See today’s Doomsday prediction for context:
More generally what are your own views on Brexit? Will we be better or worse off as a nation in the future?
In line with most catalogues (and advertisements), I am sure the new catalogue will contain a clause stating that the prices may be varied at any time - not least as a hedge against the present volatility of the financial world. Whilst some prices may rise others may well fall.
Until we know the exact terms of Brexit (which few of us will actually understand) all “news” about what will happen to prices is conjecture. (The suggestion that house prices may plunge will affect the ‘relatively’ affluent few who have bought property as an investment. Possibly more people will be affected by being able to afford to buy their first home.)
Any and all excuses to bring the prices of property down… firstly there are plenty of houses in the UK…in Kent most new builds stand empty as the prices charged for them are so high, but the developers are quite happy to let them stand empty, although some are rented out, but few…
What might bring the prices down is the inverse affect if building and civil engineering contracts…where the companies who have spend years chasing work in Europe and the rest of world might be more inward looking…and the fact that the government is, so it says, planning to let councils build more homes…which is interesting in itself, as not many councils in England actually retain their own housing stock, having sold it all to housing associations, often setup by the very seniors officers who used to work for them, and bought out the councils housing stock at ridiculously cheap prices…
At the end of the day it’s the financial market that exerts control over housing markets and housing prices…if they could be reigned in and controlled a little more, their fat profits, share dividends, salaries and fat bonus payments reduced, I’m sure down the line houses would become more affordable…
My own son struggled for some years saving to buy, and also bank of mum and dad helped his out as well…so fortunately today, as a 35 year old he now has his own place…but had to move up-north to be able to afford to do it…
I own my own home too…but I would struggle to get a mortgage today…who can afford approaching £2k a month in mortgage costs…!! Unless both are earning reasonable salaries…which of course means no kids or additional costs for kiddy care…which in turn is sponsored by, yes, you the tax payers… vicious circle and getting worse…about time we got back to basics…and got out of the EU…to much pussyfooting about going on…just leave, we managed before and we’ll do it OK again…as well as save some of those £Billions we pay into the EU coffers…which perhaps can go elsewhere to benefit our own…
