FlightMan

Interest rate rise will cripple many'



Homeowners could be pushed into remortgaging their properties if interest rates soar next week, it has been claimed.
One in seven feels this would be their only option if an increase pushed up mortgage repayments by £50 a month, research found.
The Bank of England is expected to announce a rate rise of 0.25 per cent.
Louise Cuming, of moneysupermarket.com, said: 'We feel it could even be a 0.5 per cent rise, which will drive an alarming number of people into financial difficulty.'
Another study by Scottish Widows found almost half of households need two salaries to pay the bills.
Sign of the times And more than a quarter have no savings for a rainy day.




Record 30,000 go bankrupt


A record number of people went insolvent during the first three months of 2007 in an indication the UK "debt crisis" is far from over.
Statistics from the Government's Insolvency Service revealed that a total of 30,075 people went bankrupt or took out an Individual Voluntary Arrangement (IVA) between January and March - the first time that a quarterly total has broken the 30,000 mark.
Broken down, the figures show 16,842 people went bankrupt while 13,233 opted for an IVA. The combined figure was an increase on the 29,715 people who went insolvent in the previous quarter.


Mortgage lending keeps falling


Mortgage approvals in March fell to an 11-month low in an indication that higher interest rates are beginning to cool the market, figures today showed.
The Bank of England said 113,000 mortgages were taken out by homebuyers during the month, down from 118,000 in February.
The total is below the recent six-month average and represents the lowest figure since April 2006.

The Zohan

We bought our house some 10 years ago and our mortgage on a 3bd detached is managable, even with this rise. It was based on the old 3 x one salary and whatever the second salay calculation. Since then we both earn more than we did 10 years ago, more than a cost of living rise, so even with a grands worth on nursery fee's each month we can afford it and a rise!

I suppose this makes us lucky and i do feel for those struggling to get on the housing ladder and with huge morgages just to have a place of their own...

EddScott

Hardly woe stories IMO.

Yes, rates going up is a pain but with a little luck it will have the desired effect - which by the last para it is working. Fortunately although my wages aren't fantastic, the mortgage is pretty low compared to others so I can manage the increases.

The bankruptcy story is misleading. My mother went bankrupt like so many others in the early 90s and it took her years to recover financially and only through some quick thinking we didn't lose the house and car.

My GFs auntie went bankrupt after christmas. In and out in a couple of hours. Makes no difference to her as she doesn't work, has 4 kids and lives in a housing association house. She has nothing so they can't take anything off her to pay for it. Her children had 2 PSPs, an Xbox 360 and a shed load of toys - she went bankrupt and didn't pay for any of it. There are folk who just keep doing it over and over again.

Its a right racket for the work shy, benefit grabbing pond life of this country.

KiwiGTI

That's plainly not true. Abuse of bankruptcy means that they will be subject to BRO's which can extend bankruptcy to 15 years. They are also generally not interested in taking any household items.

She shouldn't be able to get credit at all for at least 6 years, so realistically people can't do it over and over again, especially as after the first time they would be investigated a lot more thoroughly.

People with no assets may use it as an easy way out or do it deliberately but it's still a very serious option to take.

AudiLover

Kick labour out, kick the lazy up the backside to work, kick the criminal foreigners out the country and everything will be ok again.

logiclee

Still small change compared to what happened in the 80's.

Some people will remortgage in order to keep their flash car, contract mobiles and SkyHD.

For others it will be more serious but even so interest rates are hardly sky high.

I suppose I am lucky that my total debt including mortgage is only about 8 months salary but people need to think hard before they borrow high amounts and then set on other monthly payments. A young relative of mine has a large mortgage but also has the Plasma TV, Sofa, two cars on finance and has full SkyHD multiroom, contract mobile each, top broadband package etc, etc.
He's moaning about not being able to afford higher mortgage payments but he should have considered saving a bit rather than having everything now.

Cheers
Lee

KiwiGTI

I hardly think Plasmas can be considered luxury items anymore, they are now far cheaper than CRT's used to be.

For the price I paid for a 32" CRT about 4 years ago I can now buy 4 x 42" plasmas.

logiclee

When we first moved into our house in 1991 we had a an old 14" CRT that was given to us by a relative.
You can get 21" CRT from Asda for £100.
If you are tight with motgage payements you do not have to buy a £1k-£2k Plasma on finance.
Todays mentality is to have everything now whether you have the money or not and then blame someone else when you can't make the payments.

Cheers
Lee

The Zohan

I think this is very true...

john banks

I paid off my first mortgage before I upgraded from a Goodmans 28" CRT 4:3. I suppose it depends on priorities. The best TVs seem to be in council houses, certainly that is where I get to see the newest models on home visiting because the parents can't afford to bring their snotty offspring to see me because they've smoked the bus fare.

pslewis

You weren't around when the Tories ran the country were you???

If you think THIS is bad you should try and imagine 15% Interest Rates, massive Unemployment, Muggings every night, Crime out of control, Employment Laws scrapped to suit the rich company owners and money grabbing individuals with an 'I'm alright attitude' (yes, the parents of the very scum we complain about today!!!!)

No, those who lived through the Tory years will NEVER, EVER vote Tory in again!

scoob_babe

like your thinking

logiclee

That's the way I remember the Thatcher years as well.

15% interest rates today and the Government would be overthrown.

Cheers
Lee

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Trouble is everyone thinks they deserve everything these days and if their employer thinks otherwise they just buy it on credit.

pslewis

An interesting case in point is the Teachers .... they think that, if they get a good report they should move UP the payscale (in ADDITION to their annual payrise!) ................ in the outside world, if you get a good report you get to keep your job for another year!!!

It is terrible how Teachers moan and moan about their lot when their lot is better than almost every other profession!! Look at the holidays for one!

EddScott

I'm sorry mate, but it plainly is true. It can and is being done.

They might get a higher interest rate if accepted but what difference does it make if they have no intention of paying. Low/no income people can run up massive credit debt and just right it off in a heartbeat.

People with no assets have nothing to lose so what difference does it make to them? They'll never want a mortgage or start a business or any of the other things that bankruptcy effects.

KiwiGTI

Well serial bankrupts are a very small minority of bankruptcy cases. And quite frankly if greedy companies are willing to prey on vulnerable and irresponsible customers then they deserve to lose money.

I think you'll find it nigh on impossible to obtain unsecured credit while you have a credit record stating you are an discharged bankrupt (6 years). Any suggestion of deliberately incurring debts with the view of going bankrupt will mean you will be subject to a BRO for up to 15 years, and if anyone lends money to someone like this they need their head examining.

StickyMicky

the G/F did her degree, and is now going back to uni for another 9 months/1 year to become a teacher

happy days


edit to add, one of the lads who used to work for me made himself bankrupt a few months back, he split with his wife, filed for divorce she was raping him with payments, she was getting benefits and working on the side to give herself cash for nights out


he simply filed for bankruptcy, stood before a judge for a bit, and got everything wiped clean, he now works 4 hours a day *i think* and gets loads of benefits for the kids and such

he told me he is much better off, he was working 2 jobs to try and pay the bills and now he has to do nothing


its an easy route out !!!!
not one i would take myself, but i can see why so many go for it

Leslie

Would you like to tell us what the inflation rate and interest rates reached during the Callaghan government PSL! When the IMF refused to lend the chancellor any more money!

I agree with Logiclee anyway.

Les

AudiLover

Is this mug serious. If someone lives in council accomodation then a large plasma or LCD TV is a luxury. No ifs no buts its that simple.

pslewis

Come on you old duffer - next you will be asking me what the Interest Rates were in 1578 when the predessesor to the current Labour Party were in power

I 'try' and limit my comments to recent Political History - which plainly shows that the Tories are to blame for the mess the current Labour party is working hard to correct!!

OllyK

And yet the Tories were just trying to fix the mess created by Labour before them and so on.

TelBoy

Pete, at least Gordon has given you ALL the ammunition you need when the next Tory chancellor is struggling to dig us out of the current Spend Now Pay Later fiasco. It will be interesting to see the extent to which you deny the current shower's involvement in the almost inevitable difficult period ahead. Few administrations are blameless, this one is excelling in that department, not that you're likely to ever admit it. In some small masochistic way i would actually like to see just how much of a mess Labour would make of things if they were re-elected. Fortunately, as we all know, that won't be happening in the next election at least.

stilover

Personally I hope interest rates rise, and house prices fall (by quite a lot)