JackLakeland

Get an accountant... I hope you're not going to be employed in anything as complicated as this, are you going to be turnip picking on a contractual basis?...

True. I earn now, PAYE, the same as I did ten years ago contracting, and half what I earned 3 years ago....

No he meant you'll earn twice as much as a full time PAYE employee at the same company.

As a Ltd company you'd pay income tax on your salary....You'll have to pay corporation tax on any profit the company makes.

I did this for about 15 years some time with an Umbrella and sometimes as a Ltd Company. If I was you, I'd set up as a Ltd. You'll have to register for VAT though but its not hard. A form and a phone call. I did my VAT on a standard rate. I think I had to pay 12% while I charged 17.5% so I made a killing on that. About 40 quid a week for doing nowt...You'll need an accountant but you can pay for the service monthly, mine was about 30 quid I think, but its a few years ago. If you use an Umbrella you don't have to do owt. Just fax your hours and expenses to them then they invoice the Agency and then pay you. I think you should get about 2 quid an hour more from the Agency on PAYE rates (for both methods) because they have nothing to do, just pay the invoice either you or the Umbrella send... You'll lose the holiday pay though, the Agency pays you...But, if Ltd, you can pay yourself for Bank Holidays and sick pay because it all comes out of the company..you will still get holiday pay though, if Ltd, that comes out of the company too. There's been a lot of publicity just lately about all this so I'm not up to date with any changes to legislation though...

They can't afford to renovate them, or they would.

I don't think I've ever seen a residential private property left to rot. I've seen council houses in a poor condition. This is because councils can't afford to repair them and so can't legally let them because they are below the minimum void standards. There's plenty of commercial property empty but this is not suitable to be converted into residential property for various reason. Industrial = contaminated land, very expensive to remedy. Offices = Design, like large open spaces, window situations, plumbing and electrical costs make it cheaper to knock down and rebuilt. Go on then. There was a scheme called Living Over The Shops (LOTS) some time ago when these landlords/owners received grants to let the space available. But it failed. Its a complex problem to solve ie housing, if only it was that simple as to make use of empty properties. Its costs big bucks, are you willing to pay? You can't force property owners to throw good money after bad by wasting it on development folly and if its public money you want spent, the politicians will run a mile. Because it would fail miserably. The only way to solve the housing crisis is to build more council homes and help first time buyers..

But I don't understand if its not what is said but who says it, does that mean if someone else takes the Michael out of the Frogs, it'll be okay?...

I don't believe that any business man would leave a building to rot. There's no point.

This theory that property owners leave their assets to crumble is flawed. There would be no point. There will be instances of this but in the grand scheme of things they will be very rare. The idea that some obese millionaire is laid on a beech eating caviar while his properties remain empty, is ludicrous..

That's a good point. Just because someone invested their money in property they are no different from those who have savings, gold bars or art...

Eh? Don't lets start a cheese war...

And that, my friend, is why French men always have an onion at hand...

The Falklands are more important. Defending your own land has to be a priority.

Q: You are approached by three men while walking down a dark city street. One British, one American, one French. They all seem intent on mugging you. However, you have a gun, but alas, only two bullets. What do you do? A: Shoot the Frenchman twice. Good day!