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Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

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Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#71

Post by wiether »

NeoTar wrote: post #15

> which is why it’s spelled in the somewhat Francophile Center Parcs, and not Centre Parks. (I thought this is why we did Brexit?) Pardon me? The French for center/centre is centre - the 're' ending of British English spelling is either taken from the French, or sometimes a direct reference to French spelling (i.e. 'prestige' spelling - like how some American publications will use British English spelling because the…

Yeah, I don't understand this take.

"Center" is not French, it's English.

"Parcs" is French, sure.

But the author is suggestion "Centre" (French) "Parks" (English).

So an English French word becomes a French English one.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#72

Post by PyWoody »

dwighttk wrote: post #57
londons_explore wrote: post #19

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I've been mulling over buying up farmland and planting trees and then just sitting on it for 20 yrs to capitalize on it.

In the us sometimes people do that because of an agricultural exemption to property taxes.

Some states call it different things but most call it in "Current Use." [0]

If you want to take the land out of Current Use, you'll usually have to pay the back taxes first.

Around my parts, it's seen as a very good program as it promotes natural growth. It's also great for protecting wetlands that wouldn't be buildable anyways but can now be protected at a lower cost.

[0] https://www.forestsociety.org/advocacy-issue/current-use

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#73

Post by benjaminwootton »

roenxi wrote: post #9

Based on the tone of the article, I think "price-gouged" is how this gentleman would describe any holiday based spending. He doesn't seem to like spending money on his holidays one bit. Every time he actually go into detail the practices seem normal and the prices fair. It took me a while to realise that this article does not seem to involve any price-gouging of any sort but is actually about pricing a private equity…

The experience on the ground is very much one of you being price gouged. It is galling to spend so much on the booking, then sit down at a rubbish Italian chain restaurant and pay twice what you would do in the nearest town.

I don't mind spending a lot on holidays and travel, but we didn't return to Centre Parcs for this reason. It crossed the line from expensive to unreasonable.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#74

Post by HeatrayEnjoyer »

Stevvo wrote: post #41
ajb wrote: post #17

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oh that's why forest land has gone up so much! Thanks, I'd seen the same rise, and couldn't figure out why.

Income from the sale of timber is exempt from income tax & corporation tax. Forrest ownership in the UK is quite literally growing money on trees.

Why is it exempt?

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#75

Post by HeatrayEnjoyer »

rwmj wrote: post #6

PE is terrible, but this isn't a good example as there's plenty of competition for Center Parcs. Plus they raise their prices during school holidays when there's greatest demand, that's not an unfair practice, that's rationing out a limited resource when demand is greatest, economics 101. Bad PE looks like private equity trying to corner the market in vets[1] and dental practices[2], services that you don't really ha…

Rationing would be using a lottery system. Raising prices just makes it goddamn pay to play.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#77

Post by toyg »

NeoTar wrote: post #29
kwhitefoot wrote: post #13

Earlier quoted context omitted.

We took our children out of school for three months about twenty years ago because I had the opportunity to work for that period in the US. We asked the school to provide the targets for the period for each child and my wife ensured that the children did a few hours work every day, not a whole day by any means. When we got back to Norway all three of the children were ahead of their classes. In Norway there seems to…

There are staggered holidays, but it's uncoordinated, based around local council areas - i.e. areas with a population of a hundred-thousand to around a million people. One council may run mid-July to end-of-August, another council a week earlier, and a third a week later. The UK summer vacation (summer holiday in British English) is significantly shorter than in other countries - only six weeks, where I understand ei…

> The UK summer vacation (summer holiday in British English) is significantly shorter than in other countries

This is compensated by "half-term" weeks, where schools close in the middle of a semester, so in total there is no difference. Predictably, those weeks also see massive spikes in prices for holidays, airfare, etc.

The UK education system is built from the ground up to ensure class lines remain intact. This is just another facet of it: the wealthy will go on holiday no matter what; others will either not go or be price-gouged, hence ensuring they cannot accumulate enough to ever challenge the ruling class.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#78

Post by HeatrayEnjoyer »

dwighttk wrote: post #53

“Price-gouged” is sort of a dog-whistle for me these days… most often when it is used it is a person complaining about a limited resource costing more when in high demand. It’s not always 100% that but usually leans heavily that way on the spectrum.

...you're describing price gouging.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#79

Post by b800h »

pydry wrote: post #65
rwmj wrote: post #20

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It's also because an exception to inheritance tax that covers farm land and forests. Rich people have been buying up both (Dyson owns several counties now). https://www.gov.uk/guidance/woodland-owners-tax-guidance https://whoownsengland.org/2017/09/19/why-is-james-dyson-hoo...

I wonder if Starmer included this loophole in his list of "painful tax rises" he promised for next year's budget.

Literally yes - generational farms are expected to go out of business when the head of the family dies as a result, and have to sell up to massive farm businesses.

Re: Getting price-gouged by private equity in the UK's happiest resort (2023)

#80

Post by dominicrose »

wiether wrote: post #71
NeoTar wrote: post #15

> which is why it’s spelled in the somewhat Francophile Center Parcs, and not Centre Parks. (I thought this is why we did Brexit?) Pardon me? The French for center/centre is centre - the 're' ending of British English spelling is either taken from the French, or sometimes a direct reference to French spelling (i.e. 'prestige' spelling - like how some American publications will use British English spelling because the…

Yeah, I don't understand this take. "Center" is not French, it's English. "Parcs" is French, sure. But the author is suggestion "Centre" (French) "Parks" (English). So an English French word becomes a French English one.

"Centre" is still not French if you pronounce it "Center" though. In French it's more like Train, where the vowel is after the R. But the real French R sound is hard to prounounce for Englishmen.
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