Much as I love the landscape of the Chilterns, it cannot be denied that we do not have a sea coast!
So for a few days at least it is good to be at the seaside for the party conference season.
Whether the sea breezes will disperse the heat of “election fever”, or intensify the symptoms, you should know by the time this column is printed.
That said, it was good to see old friends and fellow delegates away from our home ground and to hear their responses to what was being said by shadow ministers.
There is no doubt that the Conservative conference approved of the proposal to raise the threshold for inheritance tax. Coupled with this was the idea of raising the level at which stamp duty is first levied.
From my postbag I know that many constituents want to see the younger members of their family given the chance to step on to the local property ladder. They would like to think that the younger generation have the opportunity to make their homes and raise their families close by where they themselves grew up.
There have been some notable schemes to help key workers, such as the housing provided at Amersham Hospital, but, as people have pointed out to me, not all young people work in the jobs which qualify them to occupy such homes.
At the other end of the property ladder, many families find themselves faced with inheritance tax on a home which, when first purchased, would not have attracted such duties.
The number of first time buyers is at its lowest for 27 years and this has got to affect everyone, on whichever rung of the housing ladder they may be.
Cheryl Gillan is MP for Chesham and Amersham
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