 |
 |
   |
 |
|
|
|||||||||||||||||
 |
U.K. Consumers Cut Back on Beer, Shoes as Mortgage Crunch LoomsBrian Swint and Sarah JonesJuly 31 (Bloomberg) -- Ben Craster says he'll be drinking less beer this summer, and Christine Baines is cutting back on clothes and cosmetics. They're among the millions of Britons preparing for a mortgage crunch. Craster, a London designer, and Baines, a company director from Knutsford, England, will have to arrange new home loans as fixed-rate discounts expire on mortgages they took out two years ago. The Bank of England has raised borrowing costs five times during the past year, increasing the average monthly mortgage payment by about 100 pounds ($200), according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. About 2 million discounts will end during the next 18 months, the council said. The wave of refinancing threatens to slow consumer spending, which has boosted U.K. economic growth almost every quarter for the past decade, and may hurt stocks of retailers such as Tesco Plc and Marks & Spencer Group Plc. We have a fixed-rate squeeze coming,'' said Alan Clarke, an economist at BNP Paribas in London. ``Consumers are going to bear the brunt of a slowdown.'' Britons are more willing than any other nation in the Group of Seven to finance spending with debt, piling up a record 1.3 trillion pounds in borrowing. To attract customers, U.K. mortgage lenders often offer a discount on interest rates for two to five years on 25-year loans. When the discount period ends, borrowers usually have the option to renegotiate or shop for a new mortgage. Source:http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news? pid=20601102&sid=ajbnu9l2U8XA&refer=uk
|
©copyright All Rights Reserved,2006-2007, www.assetfinanceuk.net
THINK CAREFULLY BEFORE SECURING OTHER DEBTS AGAINST YOUR HOME.
YOUR HOME MAY BE REPOSSESSED IF YOU DO NOT KEEP UP REPAYMENTS ON A MORTGAGE OR ANY OTHER DEBT SECURED ON IT
A fee between 0% and 10% of the loan may be charged on some plans depending on crdit history and ability to prove income.
Example: Loan of £15,000: 120 monthly repayments of £204.66, 10.4%APR variable. Loans secured on residential property