Former Chancellor Kwasi Kwarteng delivers talks about his 49 days in the Treasury in this interview with Mark. He discusses why the UK is trapped in a doom loop of high taxes and low growth, shares his thoughts on Brexit's benefits and explains why panic killed his economic reforms. He gives his thoughts on Trump's policies, Britain's energy crisis, and what it really takes to succeed in business and politics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Kwasi shares how a network of unelected civil servants and regulatory bodies has accumulated enormous power over the past 25 years, often working against elected government policies and maintaining the status quo regardless of which party is in power.
• The UK is trapped in a vicious cycle where high government spending forces higher taxes, which kills growth, leading to even higher taxes. The government now spends £1 trillion annually, all ultimately funded by the private sector.
• Kwasi admits three critical mistakes of the mini budget, moving too fast, cutting taxes without reducing spending and panicking when markets reacted negatively. The energy price intervention alone cost massive amounts in a brief discussion.
• Public sector spending cannot drive economic growth since it's funded by taxing the private sector. Real growth comes from encouraging entrepreneurship and commercial activity, not government investment.
• Brexit provides essential flexibility, despite implementation challenges, leaving the EU gives Britain the freedom to negotiate independent trade deals and avoid being bound by policies designed for 27 other countries with different economic needs.
• Net zero policies have made UK energy prices among the world's highest, killing industrial competitiveness. The windfall tax on North Sea oil and gas is particularly damaging to energy security and investment.
• Both in business and politics, success demands unwavering optimism and self-belief. Leaders must project confidence and energy, as people won't follow those who expect failure or constantly blame external factors.

BEST MOMENTS

"We went too far, too fast, and I think the worst thing you can do when things start going wrong... is when we started to panic."

"I said to the officials, I said, look, we've gotta be able to take 50 billion out of the spending. If I said to anyone in this room, you've gotta reduce your spending by 5%... most people should be able to do that."

"Our national debt in 2005... was 500 billion. 20 years ago it was 500 billion and now it's 2.7 trillion. It's completely nuts."

"The private sector pays for the public sector... someone, ultimately, many people in this room, I imagine, has to pay for it."

"If you don't believe in yourself, why should anyone else believe in you?"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Mark answers one of the most asked property questions, should you rent or should you buy? He talks about the considerations for both options and shares the financial implications and benefits of owning -vs- renting a property.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• If you want to buy then it needs to be for a period that is long enough to counteract the costs of buying, like stamp duty, legal fees and leaving costs, which is usually 3-5 years.
• If you are staying somewhere less than 3 years, then renting might be a better option financially.
• Buying benefits most in the long term.
• Inflation has the opposite effect on debt, so you can use this to your advantage and buy a house.
• There is security in owning a house, you aren’t at risk of eviction.

BEST MOMENTS

"You need to look at if it’s going to benefit you over the long run”

“Over time, you will get capital growth”

“Inflation will erode that mortgage payment and the real value of that mortgage”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

In the first episode of the Property Ladder, Mark gives the 5 top reasons hotspots based on regeneration are nonsense. He shares why buying in regeneration areas could be a mistake and talks about what you should be focusing on as a property investor instead.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

1. You never know when regeneration is actually going to happen, even after it’s been announced. Regeneration doesn’t always increase demand.
2. Once regeneration has been announced, it is very quickly baked into the price, so any capital growth that might be there has most likely already gone by the time you get to market
3. Regeneration is a very easy sell to investors but it is forward priced and the developer and vendor are taking the capital gains from you.
4. People focus on regeneration areas as they think it will go up in the medium to long term, but what they should be focusing on instead is those properties that are easy to rent and high yielding.
5. There’s a lot of developing of houses and flats in regeneration areas because developers know they can sell a lot to naïve investors.

BEST MOMENTS

"You can’t be sure when regeneration happens what happens to capital growth”

“If you buy new build property, you need to be very alive to the forward pricing concept in regeneration areas”

“All you need to do is focus on the fundamentals, the boring stuff”

"There's often too much supply"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Mark gives his thoughts on Trump’s recent tariffs including why it’s both a confusing and a poor choice for the U.S. He shares the economic problems with what Trump has announced and predicts what will happen next.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Trump has announced tariffs on China and over 70 other allies, which makes little economic sense.
• The U.S are consumers rather than savers which is the core problem with these tariff announcements.
• The tariffs may reduce imports but they are also likely to reduce economic growth.

BEST MOMENTS

"The markets have been up and down like a whores drawers”

“The U.S does have a big current account deficit”

“There is a 60% chance of a U.S recession after this”

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Mark gives his analysis of the UK's dire economic situation following the spring statement. Mark talks about the current national debt and reveals why we're caught in a dangerous doom loop of increased spending, higher taxes, and reduced growth. He dissects the chancellor's recent announcements, calling most of it "just noise" while highlighting the critical issues that politicians aren’t properly addressing.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The UK's debt crisis has reached critical levels at approximately 100% of GDP (£2.65 trillion), with interest payments alone now costing taxpayers £105 billion annually which is nearly 10% of all government spending.
• Government spending is £1.27 trillion yearly (roughly 50% of all money generated in the economy), with welfare representing the largest portion at £313 billion, yet the chancellor's proposed cuts amount to less than 2% of this budget.
• The UK is caught in a doom loop where increased taxes to fund growing expenditure only reduces economic growth and productivity, ultimately generating less tax revenue and worsening the debt situation.
• The government is using inflation as a strategy to reduce the real value of the national debt, effectively devaluing the pound in everyone's pocket by approximately 3% annually.
• Public confidence in economic management is abysmal, with only 16% of voters believing the government is handling the economy well and just 11% viewing the chancellor's performance positively.
• Housing may be the one bright spot, with the OBR forecasting construction will reach a 40-year high of 305,000 homes annually by the end of the forecast period, approaching the government's promise of 1.5 million new homes.

BEST MOMENTS

"Currently we're riding at about 100% of GDP, so the UK owes £2.65 trillion, or 96% to be precise, of the amount of money that flows around this economy every year, which is a huge amount of money."

"What they should have done was fix the roof when the sun was shining. But instead what they've done, they've increased welfare spending, they've increased spending on the NHS, which seems incredibly wasteful."

"We're in a doom loop. And it needs somebody to come along and take some very difficult decisions to fix that."

"It's going to take somebody, a Margaret Thatcher style character, I think, to come along and really get government spending in check because I just don't think Labor are going to do it."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

This is a revisit of a previous episode. Join Mark as he talks about how to build the power team you need for your business. Mark also talks about how to keep your team motivated and why it’s essential for the success of your business to work with a team.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Working with property is a team sport, you can’t do everything yourself. Find the people who know more than you and work with them.
• Due diligence is essential in finding the right people for the jobs you need. There are a lot of specialists when working with property, especially if you are working in renovating or conversions.
• You want an expert with experience, someone who has verifiable skills in the exact job you want doing.
• Progressive Property Approved, is a list of approved specialists that have proven experience with progressive so you can feel confident you have the right person for the job.
• Mentorship is essential for building you and your power team, allowing you to continue to learn from those who have been where you are.

BEST MOMENTS

"I’m a bit of a conductor, trying to find the right person for each job that I need doing”

“You cannot know even a tiny percentage of what goes on in the property market”

“I've kissed so many frogs, picked so called experts, picked the wrong ones for the wrong jobs"

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Mark and Jonathan Collins continue their conversation into the intricacies of UK infrastructure, planning systems, and local government challenges. They discuss the complexities of planning permission, energy and local council operations. Collins shares expertise from his experience in local government and his current role as a planning consultant, making this episode essential listening for developers, property investors, and anyone interested in UK infrastructure development and local politics.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• The planning system is too complex, projects that should be simple often get bogged down with unnecessary requirements and delays.
• Most council money goes to social care, leaving little for other important services like planning and development.
• Extra rules and taxes on landlords have led to fewer rental properties and higher rents for tenants.
• The UK's energy pricing makes no sense, we pay the highest possible price even when cheaper energy is available.
• Getting planning permission takes too long because councils don't have enough staff and the process is overly complicated.
• Infrastructure projects in the UK often cost far more than in other countries because we try to make everything perfect rather than practical.
• Local politics has become less cooperative over time, making it harder to get things done that everyone actually agrees need doing.

BEST MOMENTS

"The whole thing is bonkers and if the market means anything, surely it should mean that me as an electricity purchaser can go to a solar person and say, I'll have your electricity."

"When you sit down and you talk to people, most people will agree what the challenges are and some of the ways forward by way of solutions."

"Infrastructure projects suffer because they're over-engineered and gold-plated, which means they run out of money before completion.”

"Local democracy is great, but we've all voted in a national election and if the government is saying it's infrastructure and growth, sorry guys, but we're going to have to constrain your local ability to say no."

"The nature of our politics has got worse... there's an inability to actually listen and to debate and to understand and to compromise."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/

Mark talks to Jonathan Collins, friend and former leader of Nottingham City Council for 16 years. They discuss in depth Labour's recent budget decisions, infrastructure challenges, and the complexities of political promises. While coming from different sides of the political spectrum, their frank discussion explores local government, infrastructure investment, and the realities of political decision making. The debate around HS2, regional development, and political accountability makes this a must listen for anyone interested in UK politics and economic policy.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

• Good infrastructure (railways, roads, broadband) is essential for local economic growth - when these basics are missing, even successful businesses struggle to expand.
• Politicians avoid being honest about taxes before elections, creating a cycle of unrealistic promises and voter disappointment.
• There aren't enough young people being born causing a social care and tax crisis.
• Government projects often cost much more than necessary because officials are too focused on avoiding any possible criticism rather than being practical.
• The constant stopping and starting of major projects like HS2 wastes enormous amounts of money as contractors have to keep reorganising their work.
• Many areas of the UK are held back not by lack of business opportunity, but by poor transport connections and outdated infrastructure.
• Union influence on Labour Party decisions is less direct than many people think.
• Professional experts often over-engineer infrastructure projects due to fear of future criticism, leading to gold-plated solutions rather than practical ones.
• Local councils face challenges in basic service delivery (like waste collection) due to the complex relationship between unions, management, and practical realities.

BEST MOMENTS

"Part of the challenge with politics is that it often descends into personalities... But ultimately, this is all about how we run the country and it's about policy."

"The country isn't working anymore. It isn't functioning and so the conversation is, so are we happy with that? Are we happy to continue doing that?"

"There aren't enough young people being born. You're not enough working age people to pay for the old people. We've got social care issues."

"If you concentrate on infrastructure and housing, you will get growth. Infrastructure and housing will deliver you growth."

"Why does it cost four times as much to do HS2 per mile than it does to do the TGV?"

"Each time they get all of their payments, as soon as the government decides to stop again, it's massively disruptive and costly. Stop starting. I mean, it's completely bonkers."

VALUABLE RESOURCES

https://www.youtube.com/user/progressiveproperty https://www.progressiveproperty.co.uk/the-progressive-co-founders/

ABOUT THE HOST

Mark has bought, sold or has managed around 1,000 property units for himself, Rob, his family and his investors since 2003. He is a system and spreadsheet geek and has developed a complex, confidential deal analyser system of buying residential, commercial and multi-let properties.

CONTACT METHOD

Email: Markhomer@progressiveproperty.co.uk

LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/markhomer1

Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/markprogressive

Twitter: https://twitter.com/markprogressive

‘Brought to you by Progressive Media’: https://progressivemedia.uk/