Property Rescue Blog

Despite recent news suggesting that the UK is beginning to get out of the recession, the Bank of England has held interest rates at a very low 0.5% for the sixth straight month, warning that recovery will be slow, long and drawn out.

According to the KPMG UK Banks Performance Benchmarking Survey, the retail arm of High Street banks in the UK will probably experience losses during the second half of 2009. Bad loans are largely to blame, and are expected to continue causing losses at least through 2010.

Sobering news has confirmed what many UK residents already knew: that the ongoing recession and credit crunch have has a tremendous - and negative - impact on their wealth. Indeed, each household saw a reduction in wealth of approximately £31,000.

Recently, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) announced that since last year, the six top mortgage lending companies dominate the market, accounting for 78% of business; last year, the top six accounted for 72%.

Even though July's price increases in home sales had many people turning optimistic regarding the economic crisis, a recent statement by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) has quickly negated it. Indeed, the statement by RICS notes that short demand caused the price increases and that a property boom is not imminent.

When the Property Ombudsman announced that there had been a 200% rise in complaints to properties via letting agents in 2008, the numbers were shocking enough. Incredibly, in 2009 the number of complaints has jumped up by another 26%.

In this market of fewer fast house sales, repossessions are increasing.  Before taking back your home, a lender must prove a few things during a repossession hearing.