Housing misfortune

Today is Clare's birthday. I forgot to get her a card, but bought her present weeks ago, and a bunch of roses later in the day. After breakfast an early walk to St Catherine's to unlock the church and prepare for the Eucharist. There were five of us, and afterwards we had coffee together in the church hall. When I'd locked up behind me, I went straight to the collection point to pick up our weekly veggie beg, and got home with three quarters of an hour to spare before being collected for a funeral at the Wenallt Chapel in Thornhill. There were two eulogies, one from a representative of the family, the other on behalf of a wide circle of friends. 

The man whose funeral it was had worked for most of his life running a store belonging to John Hall Tools in the Royal Arcade in a public facing job that led to him making friends with scores of customers. This old Cardiff family business was equipping enthusiasts and craft workers for a century before massive retail companies got on the DIY bandwagon. I can remember my father shopping there seventy years ago. One of the remaining family members who worked for the company, Richard Hall was at the service. He was church warden of St John's City Parish Church when I was Vicar there. He's now old and frail, using a walking frame but still quietly active. It was good to see him again.

Clare had a cooked lunch waiting for me when I got back, fresh sardines with rice and veg. We then drove to the Post Office sorting office to collect a parcel which hadn't been delivered or left with a neighbour. Such a nuisance. I dropped her off with the shopping trolley to get some of the week's groceries at Beanfreaks. When she returned, I took the trolley to the Co-op and got the rest of the things we needed.

Distressing news from Owain. Not only has the bank repossessed the flat he made an offer on which was accepted before the owner died, his own rented flat has now got a new owner after his landlord died, and he visited to inspect today. He's thinking of installing his adult children in property, which will mean giving Owain notice to quit. The Bristol housing market has been over inflated by demand from people moving out of London, wanting to work from home and occasionally commute, particularly in the past eighteen months since he started his home purchase quest. 

The likelihood of him finding a new flat to rent is low anyway, and rental costs have gone up by a third to a half. It's grossly unfair and it's happening to thousands of people as a result of government policies rewarding greed and speculation on property. The economic recklessness of the Truss government is depressing the value of the pound and adding to the current inflationary spiral. Recession seems unavoidable. Uncertainty promotes instability. What an awful mess, and there's little that can be done until there's a general election to get rid of the fools who have held the reins of power for far too long.

After supper I started work on new week's offering of Marning Prayer, writing and recording a biblical reflection  the rest can wait until tomorrow.