Property Rescue Blog

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.

The Financial Services Authority (FSA) Mortgage Market Review September 2009 included a proposal calling for the ban of self-certified mortgages, asserting that all borrowers should be required to demonstrate their ability to afford repayment of their home loans.

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.

It will likely come as no surprise that long time unemployment figures, which includes those who have been out of work for at least one year, are now the highest they have been since 1997.