Property Renovations Ely Ltd

With 2009 just around the corner, moneysupermarket.com’s head of mortgages, Louise Cuming, believes that consumers are happy just sticking on their lender’s SVR for now.

Property Renovations Ely Ltd

First Mortgage has put forward a solution that it believes can boost activity in the housing market. It believes that through simple changes to the Indemnity Guarantee Insurance system is what is needed.

Indemnity Guarantee Insurance (IGI) is taken out by lenders when mortgage applicants require a high loan to value mortgage – usually around 85% - to insure the risk of the mortgage holder not being able to make repayments. In the event of repossession, any shortfall from a forced sale is made up through the IGI. Currently this cover is offered by independent Insurance Guarantee Insurers, many of whom are not able to provide the cover because of the problems of assessing high risk in the current market.

Property Renovations Ely Ltd

The Bank of England have reduced the base rate by 1% to 2%. This is the lowest level since 1951.

City experts were hoping a radical 1.5% cut from the current 3% rate will be enough to kick-start spending on the high street, and prevent a slide into a depression.

Accountancy firm PricewaterhouseCoopers today warned Britain will be the worst performing major world economy next year, and called for urgent action this morning from the Bank.

Hetal Mehta, senior economic advisor to the Ernst & Young Item Club, said: ‘This is a grim set of data. With the services sector shrinking at a record pace and employment falling sharply, it is clear this recession is gathering momentum.’
Figures from the high street show inflation is in rapid retreat as retailers slash prices to boost sales in the run-up to Christmas. The British Retail Consortium said shop prices last month were only 2.7% higher than a year ago, down from 3% in October, and a peak of 3.8% in August.