General Chat

Of course......

I know perfectly well that B.I. is in the USA. It is about 100 miles south of Vancouver, a long way in England but nothing much in most of Canada. B.I. as I guess you know is a very different place to Vancouver lol.

I have no idea how Canada treats non resident investors. As he has the usual network of interlocking companies registered in B.C. I doubt it is an issue. He likes to keep his cash flow moving and is very unlikely to hold assets not producing revenue. In any case a 15% tax is not massive!

Getting back to the point he believes that tough building standards encourage confidence and liqiuidity so are a very good thing. Of course he is talking about the private sector.

Bainbridge Island is in the US ....................

so he's one of the ones helping to raise house and condo prices up here to astronomical levels, is he??

Absentee landlords are not much liked ;-)

Hope none of his holdings are vacant, or he's going to be subject to massive tax demands from city council as of July 1st


Or is he just bankrolling himself ready to get out of the US?

Of course...........

I have some close friends nr Vancouver at a place called Bainbridge Island. He is a retired armanents salesman who has gone into Vancouver property development. The Chinese are the big players.
2nd cousin lives in Calgary, small scale landlord NOT highrise. He complains about all the regulation just the same.

So, I asked.

One of the privately rented flats:

http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-to-rent/property-59885887.html

www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article.../Firm-paid-2-6m-cladding-Grenfell-collapsed.html

Rydon contracted ,
,to Harley Facades Ltd.


worth a read to get a fuller understanding.

I have to ask Rollo how do you know so much about the way things are done in America and Canada ?

And as already mentioned all Governments have had their hands in this procedure in one way or another, it's not just a Tory thing.

Bob, thanks. It is wrapped exactly as I bought it.

There is nothing wrong per se in overcladding 1960s and 1970s tower blocks in order to bring their insulation up to modern standards. The technique has been widely used in north America and Europe with great success eg hundreds of buildings in Gt Toronto alone.

In order to make the technique work projects must pay close attention to both construction methods, project management and materials. Canada for instance has tight regulation and seamless project mgt quite unlike the UK laissez faire approach since 2010 where the only aspect which has been tight is budget. The methods and materials used at Grenfell are illegal in the USA and Canada where sprinklers are mandatory. All UK private sector high rise have sprinklers. Sprinklers would not of course have stopped the external fire but would have reduced the death toll.

Emergency inspection of refurbished tower blocks is to be undertaken now. Given how difficult it will be to find enough people with skills and experience AND access to plans and documents (given legal liability issues) the govt will be tempted to cut corners.

The Tory govt has an overall policy of deregulation and tight budgets. It has cited the removal of "onerous" EU building regs as a typical plus from brexit. The policy is also being applied with vigor to health, education and transport with increasing resistance and blowback.

It will be extremely difficult to carry out a dispassionate inquiry.
T May's style does not help. She seems unable to understand that her office is a political job not UK CEO.

I hope that something positive will come out of this tragedy with the loss of life and human potential but it is not looking good.

I <3 London

There has been some suggestion that the government are to blame for this disaster.

There is probably an element of truth in this but it actually goes back to the labour government of Tony Bliar who was instrumental in initiating the policy of insulating homes on the premise that it would save on fuel.

Nothing wrong with the principle but unfortunately he was advised not by independent experts but rather by the industry salesmen who saw this as a means of feathering their nests.

Billions of pounds have since been spent at taxpayers expense on expensive sub-standard insulation which at best might produce savings over a generation or more and at worst is more than useless or, possibly, down right dangerous.

As far as tumble driers are concerned? Stop using them. Not counting the safety aspect, they are the biggest energy wasters you can ever have, and no better than drying your washing in front of a three bar electric fire.

JoyLouise, your fire blanket should be OK, they should last indefinitely. If it is in a rigid plastic container, it will never go back in. If you do ever have to use it, throw it away and buy a new one.

I have investigation and remedies next.

I have read there are several permutations of the component layers which burn at different rates. That investigation would start quickly I would hope.

I'm sad this has turned into a political accusatory MSM event. A major disaster like this causes anger but public disorder will achieve resentment. That's a fact of life.

........ and how long do you wait for the same cladding to be removed from the many other towers in London that are said to be covered with it?

IMHO, something needs to be done fast there before you get another huge fire.

Terrorists may have been given ideas!!


and in saying this I am not denying the sorrow and anger regarding the poor people in Grenfell Tower, but angry and worried about what might happen while all the powers that be debate and argue

Agree with Barbra, tragedy and support first and foremost, investigation and remedies next, recriminations and law suits last.

Don't forget that there have been many people in charge of departments which have involvement in building plans, regs and compliance certifications from all political parties.

Not the time to point fingers, a cross party investigation is needed and general consensus, for once, on how to move forward with social housing.

Let's be honest here this particular unbelievably tragic event will probably never be fully solved and therefore blame will not be solely placed on any one "person". As with all major incidents, the perfect storm was due to lots of different factors.
All we can hope for is it is assumed quickly that the cladding or the application of it is a major factor and it is removed from other buildings.

According to the DMail Joy they are hiding in deepest Sussex.

Those who wish for the media to drop its investigations, social media to drop increasingly caustic threads and for politicians of all stripes making hay are crying for the moon.

The tower blocks nr Latimer Rd are very prominent landmarks it is impossible to drive in or out of west London by the A40 without noticing them.

When you read & see the news it is tragic event to awful us to comprehend .we are not experts but lets not forget the victims in this ..Front line services fireman.,police ,hospital staff do a fantastic job they are worth their weight in gold .but government cut backs mean there are not enough of front line people on our streets .I really do get annoyed at so called no all.who mouth off & know all the answers but for god sake please don't forget this awful tragic event has cost a lot of lives & these people will never recover their loved ones or treasured belongings .lets get them help the government need to get their finger out & stop bickering about who is right or wrong .work together to get safety measures in place stop building monster building that are not safe .people & safety first before profit will it happen doubt it Barbra

Oh please......

A most tragic event has taken place that none e of us will mercifully ever encounter and this thread has been full of empathy for all those concerned........but please.!

I personally dont give a fig what Rollo does or claims to do,as we all betted he would claim to have a connection to this,either by rellie or a friend, or been involved and we didnt get disapointed,,as happenes to any disaster world wide.

If I was the planners builders or owners
I would be making my way to Brazil

Pretty smart :-( :-(