You may well be keen to see the back of 2008 – and hope it takes the credit crunch with it – but you will have to wait an extra second as, like the economy, the Earth’s rotation is slowing – forcing timekeepers to add a second onto the end of the year…
Leap years – what are your thoughts? Ladies, if you are thinking of proposing to your man, leap years are traditionally the time to do it, so better get a move on – there are only two weeks left of 2008. On the downside, if you’re on an annual salary, you will get the same pay as normal this year, while working one extra day.
We need the leap day because one of our earth years (a complete orbit around the sun) does not take an exact number of whole days (one complete spin of the earth on its axis).
In fact, it takes 365.2422 days. The leap year was introduced by Julius Caesar in 46BC, to make the calendar tidier.
This year, a leap second is being added on just before 0000GMT on December 31st, which will make 2008, (which is already long with an extra day on February 29th) the longest year since 1992.
The US Naval Observatory in Washington is responsible for one-third of the world’s atomic clocks and most mobile phone providers and computer operating systems check with the world’s atomic clocks and update their time to add the leap second automatically.
The world started adding leap seconds in 1972, sometimes twice a year.
2008: a big year for housing
2008 has also been a year of change for Housing Minister Margaret Beckett, who only took over the post in October and has today unveiled a major shake-up of the controversial Home Information Packs.
Ms Beckett admitted that the packs were not working some months ago, and has now removed plans to force owners to include local searches in their HIP before putting their home onto the market.
Whilst the new ‘basic HIP’ will include a questionnaire covering flood risk, car parking, service charges and any structural damage, it will not contain a home condition report or local searches for up to 28 days.
Ms Beckett said, “HIPS are potentially a vital aid to consumers, and I am firmly committed to ensuring they work as well as possible.
“It is essential that all buyers are able to see the HIP as early as possible,†she added.
Whilst initially the end to first day marketing proposal was due to be rolled out next month, now it will not be happening until April 6th 2009.
Despite industry bods being pleased that Ms Beckett is making changes to HIPS, they are still saying that more needs to be done, including removing the first day marketing delay.
Chris Brown, President of the National Association of Estate Agents (NAEA), describes the Government’s moves as ‘a great pity given the current state of the market.’
“Consumers have made it abundantly clear to us that they believe that they should have the right to market their house from day one rather than having to wait until the HIP is prepared.
“The Government has suggested that certain information can be added at a later time of up to 28 days and we look forward to hearing the exact nature of this,†added Mr Brown.
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-ENDS-
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