41 Percent jump in repossession since start of year

A worrying new report has shown that since January of this year there has been a 41% jump in the level of repossessions, as higher living costs and bills continue to take their toll on household finances, resulting in many people being unable to keep up with repayments on their mortgage loans. Another problem has been the fact that many people are coming off cheap fixed rate mortgages and other special mortgage deals, and due to the ongoing mortgage drought have been unable to find an alternative affordable mortgage to switch to.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders has released figures that show there were 18,900 repossessions in the first half of the year where lenders seized properties because the homeowner was unable to keep up with mortgage repayments. This reflects a rise of 41% compared to the previous six months and 48% compared to the first twelve months of last year. The CML expects repossession levels to continue rising, and predicts that numbers could hit 45,000 by the end of this year.

An official from the CML said: ‘The number of people facing difficulty needs to be kept in perspective. The good news is that most people are coping well and continuing to pay their mortgages in full, despite the higher costs of food and fuel and the higher mortgage rates now prevailing in the market for those coming off cheaper original deals. But it is inevitable that more borrowers’ coping strategies will come under pressure in current conditions than in the unusually benign years of the last decade. That’s why lenders, government and the advice sector are working closely together to minimise the impact on borrowers.’

Consolidation Companies Can Help You

If you are like many of us out there, you are living well beyond your means. I bet you have more than a couple of credit cards in your wallet that you use on too regular of a basis. Are your monthly payments and interest rates so high that you have no hope of ever making the smallest dent in the principle of overall balance of your debt? If this sounds similar to the situation you are in, you should look into getting help from one of many credit debt consolidation companies. These companies have been known to help many of their customers without the necessity of filing bankruptcy. If your credit is something that you are not so proud of, you can get assistance from one of the many bad credit consolidation companies out there on the market today.

You can usually pay these consolidation companies a fee to help you get your financial affairs in order. The will make contact with your creditor and begin negotiations on your debt. They will work with lenders to lower your interest rates and monthly payments. It may be necessary to take out a loan and consolidate all of your payments into one combined monthly payment. Credit consolidation companies can assist you with this process as well.

Darling warns that it could take time for interest rate cuts to be passed on

Over the past four months the Bank of England has cut the base rate three times by 0.25% each time, taking the base rate from 5.75% to 5%. However, whilst this appeared to be welcome news for homeowners many found that their secured loan lenders were failing to pass on all or even any of the base rate cut, which meant that they were essentially no better off than when the interest rates were higher. This, on top of many bill and living cost rises, left many households continuing to face financial strain.

The government has been urging banks and lenders to pass on the base rate cuts and do their bit to help struggling homeowners and the economy as a whole. Government officials have said that given the fact that the Bank of England has ploughed billions into the money markets recently, and has come up with a plan that will allow mortgage lenders to exchange high quality mortgage assets for government bonds, banks needed to make sure that they did their bit.

However, Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has said that it could take more time than anticipated for the rate cuts to be passed on. He said: ‘It will take time because banks are having to build up their capital positions. There is no quick fix.’ Whilst the government has been putting pressure on banks to pass on the rate cuts one recent report even suggested that the governor of the Bank of England appeared to be defending banks that had not passed on these cuts.

He said that when interest rates were going up before 2006 the increased rates were not always passed on. He added: ‘What has been happening in the last six months is that now we are cutting interest rates some of the reductions in Bank rate have also not been fully passed through to mortgage rates.’

Officials say building societies still in good shape

Over recent weeks there have been a number of reports claiming that building societies are finally feeling the pinch that has resulted from the global credit cards crunch, with increased demand and decreased funding affecting their ability to operate to full capacity. These reports claimed that many building societies had been forced to cut back on lending, withdraw various deals from the shelves, and restrict new lending altogether or just to local applicants.

However, in one recent report officials from the Building Societies Association have stated that despite these cutbacks the UK’s building societies remain in good shape and are not struggling as a result of the global credit crunch that has affected so much of the financial sector within the UK. The Association said that building societies had been inundated with applications from those that could not get finance through banks or did not want to go through the bigger banks.

One official from the Building Societies Association said: “I don’t think they’re struggling, in fact very much the opposite. Building societies aren’t the only organisations out there that are cutting back on lending, competitors are as well. Just because they’re restricting lending doesn’t mean that they’re struggling.”

However, despite what the BSA has stated a number of building society officials have commented in recent reports, stating that lending had to be restricted because finance had become more difficult and more expensive to obtain, and in the current financial climate it was too difficult for them to keep up with demand. The BSA said that the success of building societies was based on the amount of money that people deposited by way of savings accounts, and the more people saved the better position building societies would be in to lend money.

Bookkeeping For a Small Business

Bookkeeping is something I know enough about to know that it’s not rocket science, but it does take some figuring, some getting used to. For a medium to large-sized businesses you can “outsource” your bookkeeping and hire the services of a person or company who’ll manage it all for you.

But, most folks starting their own businesses are starting small and in that case there are a few different options, some things to consider. Just like computer classes for new computer owners, at most community colleges, you can find classes about bookkeeping for small businesses. There are also books you can buy to learn. Whether you do your own books or not, being educated about bookkeeping is a good idea.

If you do your own books, you’ll want to buy some software to make it as easy as possible for you. If you want to cut corners, you might get away with trusting the software instructions and skip the college course, but I don’t recommend it. You’ll be better able to use the software if you know what it’s doing for you and what you would like it to do for you. Also, some software is going to be inexpensive and some of it is not and knowing the ropes of bookkeeping will help you decide what you need in terms of software.