23 April
This morning, I did my washing and then sorted out my mobile phone contract on the internet.
In the afternoon, I taught my Harrow student. During the lesson the sky grew dark and threatening. In fact, it was more than threatening – it looked rather violent. It was the kind of I’m-gonna-soak-you-to-the-skin-then-kill-you-with-lightning sky that you only get in the tropics. Thunder crashed, lightning flashed and then rain started to pour down. We sat by the window and laughed at it. Amy’s dog was terrified though. After the lesson, Amy’s mum came in.
“Mr Ben, do you hurry to return home?” she asked.
“Not really,” I said. It was too late to do anything now and, although the sky had vented most of its rage, it was still raining.
Amy’s mum looked pleased and produced a sheaf of papers.
“I want to buy a flat in London,” she said. “But I don’t understand which is better, Freehold or Leasehold. And there are so many other taxes, Band F? What is Band F? Council Tax – do you know Council Tax? And Ground Rent and Service Charge…”
She put the papers down on the table in front of me. “See here,” she pointed to the photo of a rather nice looking flat. “St. John’s Wood. Two bedrooms. Six hundred and ninety-five thousand pounds. Ground Rent – four hundred pounds per annum. Service Charge – three thousand, nine hundred and forty seven pounds per annum. Council Tax – one thousand, nine hundred and fifty three pounds per annum…”
“Well,” I said. “Ground Rent and Service Charge – I believe you have the same here in Thailand. I think you pay that to the landlord. As for Band F, that refers to the Council Tax band. You pay that to the local government.”
She looked bewildered. “But why? Why should we pay money to the local government? I thought they already paid high taxes in England. Why should we pay Council Tax as well?”
“Yes,” I said. “A good question. I guess the simple answer is if we don’t pay our Council Tax then they will put us in jail.”
“Oh,” said Amy’s mum. “Look here, West Hampstead. Three hundred thousand. Very cheap! And it is near the Underground and Sainsburys.”
“Yes, but West Hampstead is not as good as St. John’s Wood.”
She sighed.
“A few years ago, my partner in my Spanish restaurant wanted to sell his flat in Soho to me for 300,000. At the time I didn’t want to buy a place in London and I thought it was expensive. But now…! It is the same price as a Ferrari here in Thailand! A flat in Soho for the price of a Ferrari!”
This morning, I did my washing and then sorted out my mobile phone contract on the internet.
In the afternoon, I taught my Harrow student. During the lesson the sky grew dark and threatening. In fact, it was more than threatening – it looked rather violent. It was the kind of I’m-gonna-soak-you-to-the-skin-then-kill-you-with-lightning sky that you only get in the tropics. Thunder crashed, lightning flashed and then rain started to pour down. We sat by the window and laughed at it. Amy’s dog was terrified though. After the lesson, Amy’s mum came in.
“Mr Ben, do you hurry to return home?” she asked.
“Not really,” I said. It was too late to do anything now and, although the sky had vented most of its rage, it was still raining.
Amy’s mum looked pleased and produced a sheaf of papers.
“I want to buy a flat in London,” she said. “But I don’t understand which is better, Freehold or Leasehold. And there are so many other taxes, Band F? What is Band F? Council Tax – do you know Council Tax? And Ground Rent and Service Charge…”
She put the papers down on the table in front of me. “See here,” she pointed to the photo of a rather nice looking flat. “St. John’s Wood. Two bedrooms. Six hundred and ninety-five thousand pounds. Ground Rent – four hundred pounds per annum. Service Charge – three thousand, nine hundred and forty seven pounds per annum. Council Tax – one thousand, nine hundred and fifty three pounds per annum…”
“Well,” I said. “Ground Rent and Service Charge – I believe you have the same here in Thailand. I think you pay that to the landlord. As for Band F, that refers to the Council Tax band. You pay that to the local government.”
She looked bewildered. “But why? Why should we pay money to the local government? I thought they already paid high taxes in England. Why should we pay Council Tax as well?”
“Yes,” I said. “A good question. I guess the simple answer is if we don’t pay our Council Tax then they will put us in jail.”
“Oh,” said Amy’s mum. “Look here, West Hampstead. Three hundred thousand. Very cheap! And it is near the Underground and Sainsburys.”
“Yes, but West Hampstead is not as good as St. John’s Wood.”
She sighed.
“A few years ago, my partner in my Spanish restaurant wanted to sell his flat in Soho to me for 300,000. At the time I didn’t want to buy a place in London and I thought it was expensive. But now…! It is the same price as a Ferrari here in Thailand! A flat in Soho for the price of a Ferrari!”
No comments:
Post a Comment