Property Rescue Blog

People are showing real reluctance to take on new debts due to unemployment rising and the current economic climate.

Families who are already under pressure due to the current tough economic climate face even more difficulties meeting their household financial commitments as water bills in England and Wales are set to rise by 5.7% in April 2012.

Latest figures show that the Eurozone crisis has created uncertainty in the UK mortgage market as UK gross mortgage lending fell in December, down 12% on November.

Just days after official figures showed the UK’s unemployment rate had risen to its highest level for 16 years, an increasing number of people in the UK are planning to cut back on their spending this year.

With households on tighter budgets each month, the Government is trying to force down Inflation to keep on their 2% target for the end of 2012.

According to Nationwide, the Consumer Confidence level dropping to 38 in December was due to the rising cost of living and the severe debt crisis in the Eurozone.

The independent Institute for Fiscal Studies (IFS) has stated that George Osborne's economic plans will introduce a sharp drop in Briton’s wages. The “think tank” said overall household income would sink on an average of 7.4% between 2012-2013.

A total of 8 million Britons aged less than 52 will have to work longer and can now receive their pension at 67, earlier than thought. This change in the age people can receive a pension was planned to rise between 2034 and 2036, however, Chancellor George Osborne said the increase to 67 would begin in April 2026.

Surveyors have said that economic uncertainty is dampening housing market activity. This was seen to be more likely as the cause, rather than the worry of mortgage availability, the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (Rics) stated.

October saw 10% less home loans handed to first-time buyers than in September, lenders have said. Some 44,500 mortgages were given for house purchases in October, 8% less than in September, the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) said.