Huge rise in bankruptcies

Good God! A talking chicken!

FoFP

More signs that that £1.2 trillion debt is starting to bite...........................

MEP concerned about house repossessions

By South Lakes Citizen

THE rise in the number of house repossessions in Cumbria could be evidence of many families living beyond their means, according to a local Euro MP.

Recent Government figures show that mortgage repossessions in Cumbria are up 41 per cent on last year, with a 25 per cent increase in the number of bankruptcies.

Cumbrian MEP Chris Davies believes this is an indication of over-borrowing in many households and he is calling on the Chancellor to take urgent action and wants the financial services industry to set up independent advice centres for the public.

One in ten homeowners in Edinburgh are struggling to afford the cost of living in their own houses, reports the Scotsman.

New government figures suggest that of the 205,000 households in the Scottish capital, 11 per cent are involved in rent agreements or mortgages they cannot afford.

Sheila Gilmore, leader of Edinburgh council's housing service, believes that the significant rises in property prices across the region are causing difficulties for all households, irrespective of their incomes.

"There has been a big growth in the number of people with aspirations to buy their own home, and that is having a multiple effect," she said.

"People want to buy, but price growth has made that very difficult for some people. The alternative, affordable housing, is not available to everyone, and private rent is often too high because landlords' mortgage payment are higher after the property boom."

The average price of a house in Edinburgh has risen from £100,000 in

In message , Crowley writes

Real figures please - an increase from 100 to 141 is an increase of 41%, but it is not many repossessions.

Same for bankruptcies, as well as the recent change in the law.

What use is an advice centre? They wont go for advice before they take the loans and, by the time they go for advice, it is almost certainly close to too late.

Those renting can move fairly easily. If landlords found they had no tenants, their rents would reduce fairly quickly.

Those owning can move given some time, along with a willingness to move down market and live in what they can afford.

Negative equity may be an issue, but only for those who bought in the past year or so. Anyone who bought before 2000 has at least 60/160 in equity, (or before 2002 - 30/160 in equity etc.)

Tough - I had the same problem in the mid '80's and the late '80's. If you cant afford it, dont buy it - simple!!

Mortgage payments are not particularly relevant. Landlords will eventually accept what they can get, or sell, or get repossessed, or fund the mortgage on an empty property . There is always somewhere cheaper to rent.

Admittedly, these factors may have a depressing effect on house prices, so the rises will slow, and may even become decreases.

Having said that, given the rate of growth over the past few years, a

"Crowley" wrote

That could be as little as 8.5%pa (if Jan.'00 - Dec.'05 : 5years 11 mths).

Not even double-digit!