Property Rescue Blog

In order to address the UK’s £178 billion deficit and to begin to re-establish credibility in public finances, the government must start implementing public spending cuts this year.

According to the Office for National Statistics (ONS), exports saw the steepest drop in more than three years, which has unexpectedly widened the UK goods trade deficit to its largest since August 2008.

2010 has not started out well for public finances. In January, the government borrowed an additional £4.3 billion, bringing the total to the highest since record keeping began in 1993.

As yet another indicator of tough financial times, according to the Bank of England, there has been a significant rise in the amount being written off by banks as bad debts on credit cards and unsecured loans.

It is no secret that the cost of housing has risen significantly over the past 50 years, even taking into account the last few years decreases

As if many people were not already facing enough financial challenges, interest rates on credit cards are on the rise.

A reduction in fast house sales increased repossessions last year.   More homes were repossessed in 2009 than in any other year since 1995. This 14-year high culminated in the repossession of a total of 46,000 homes in 2009, which is an increase of 6,000 homes over 2008.

It is reported that that the increase in homeowners falling into mortgage arrears, struggling to make their mortgage payments and increasing repossessions is due to  people simply taking out mortgages much higher  than their incomes would ever allow them to afford.

Mortgage lending dropped significantly in January of this year. While it is normal to show a drop in sales during the month of January each year, this year’s drop stands out as particularly pronounced.

In these tough economic times, a growing number of people are taking part-time jobs as a temporary fix to assist in making ends meet each month.