• £135m: that’s the daily increase in UK debt
• £21,457 that’s the average household debt (excluding mortgages)
• £58,280 is the average household debt (including mortgages)
• £36,822 is the typical first time buyer deposit (25%)
• £224m: the amount of interest paid in the UK each day
• 125 properties will be repossessed today
• 3,036 people are made redundant each day
• 362 people will be declared insolvent or bankrupt
• 20.8 million plastic transactions will be made today

How sobering is that?

As at the end of July 2009 total UK personal debt stood at £1.457 billion.  Birmingham, Britain’s second city have suffered more than most.  With an economy built largely on manufacturing and the car industry this was inevitable really.  The video tells how ordinary people struggle to cope with UK debt. Our home page will lead you through some of the avenues open to you, and guide you in freeing yourself from credit card debt.   We have also published some useful credit repair tips .  If you’re not a master letter writer, the UK Insolvency Helpline helpfully provide a whole host of example letters for you to personalise.

It is thought that better than expected unemployment rates are helping the market – although unemployment rates have risen considerably, the fact that many employers have opted to reduce working hours and pay rather than make employees redundant has meant that the unemployment figures are not as high as had been expected.

These figures were published the day after the  Bank of England reported that there were 57,345 approved property purchase loans in October – the 11th consecutive monthly increase.  However, there are signs that the positive trend is slowing down and economists are still predicting a return of falling house prices for 2010.

Every coin has two sides, however, and it was interesting to read that, according to a Barclays survey, twice as many people plan to increase their investment in residential and commercial property as intend to reduce.  The survey reveals that real estate investment among wealthy individuals is set to rise from its current 28% to 30% of the average portfolio for the next few years.  One of the more surprising findings was that  emotional attachment to bricks and mortar often means that rich investors less rigorous in measuring the return on their investment and can, in fact, be unwilling to sell real estate at short notice.  This despite the fact that properties used as the owner’s principle residence were excluded from the figures.

Of British and Indian investors, almost 30% have more than 50% of their wealth tied up in property and, of those respondents with more than £30 million, 40% had over half their wealth in bricks and mortar.

Well, if it’s good enough for them… read more about opportunities in the housing market

The number of people who have lost their home to house repossession fell by 10 per cent in the second quarter to 11,400, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. CML said the main factor behind the decline was the forbearance shown by banks to cash-strapped customers hit by the downturn. Which nice banks are these we ask?

Quite rightly though CML argued that the growth in unemployment meant that house repossessions were tipped to rise in the second half of 2009.

Here’s a good solid factoid. The number of house repossessions was equivalent to 1 in 1000 for the second quarter of 2009. That figure is down 10 percent on the 12,700 from the first quarter of 2009 however 14% more than the 10,000 cases in the second quarter of 2008. So year on year this is bad news.

Jackie Bennett, head of policy at CML said that “today’s data shows that lenders are committed to helping borrowers manage their way through temporary payment problems and get their mortgage back on track over time, avoiding possession where possible.”

It seems that in spite of the recession, low interest rates seem to have been the biggest help to those with mortgages. Of course some people are still on fixed mortgages, low base rates do not help them at all. It was also mentioned by CML that government schemes have helped, however from what facts we see these schemes have been a light touch on the overall problem.

The government admitted on Friday that only 14 people had so far been helped through its “Mortgage Rescue Scheme”, one of its flagship policies to prevent repossessions.

The scheme, set up in November last year, allows people to sell part or all of their home to a housing association in order to stay in the property.

Despite the slow uptake, the communities department said that 454 households were going through the assessment process for the scheme and another 320 houses-holds had been saved from the “immediate threat of repossession” after applying for it.

CML also suggest that the governments pressure on banks to listen to borrowers and work with them on solving the problems rather than pulling the rug from underneath has helped. We would agree, but more because nurturing bad debts is simply good business for the banks, vastly better than selling that property at basement levels losing money for all parties.

The number of cases of arrears of three months or more at the end of June stood at 270,400, equivalent to 2.43 per cent of mortgages, compared with 264,700 in the first quarter and 152,700 in the second quarter of 2008.

Below are the UK house prices for 2008, every month house prices have fallen:

• January – .6%
• February – .9%
• March – 1.2%
• April – 1.2%
• May – 2.6%
• June – 1.1%
• July – 1.7%
• August – 1.9%
• September – 1.7%
• October – 1.4%
• November – .4%
• December – 2.5%

To put this into perspective house prices have fallen by 9.6% over the past 6 months and 17.2% over the last 12 months. We think 17% house price drop over 12 months is a substantial decrease in house prices. The UK is in a depression so this reduction is not that surprising, although it is debatable whether this is large decrease.

Since February 1991 the biggest monthly drop in house prices was in May 2008 when prices dropped by 2.6%. The largest increase was in April 2002 when house prices went up by 3.4%.

Considering house prices are already very low it is hard to believe that we will continue to have monthly decreases. Especially considering the Bank of England has cut interest rates to 1.5% the lowest in the banks 315 year history.

The following video is an interview with the chief economist from Nation Wide, who reviews the UK housing market:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Please take all of this information into account and make a prediction as to when monthly house prices will increase?

The property market had been flourishing for many years and many people thought that the good times would continue for the medium to long term.

We know that many people thought London house prices would continue to increase as London is apparently a strong, international economy. The increase in demand for property would fuel the increase in house prices, even if the rest of the UK economy declined.

All good things must come to an end and this holds true with the property market.

Most people believe that the house price crash is more than a correction in the market and the UK economy could fall into recession.

Is now the right time to purchase a house or will house prices continue to drop to much lower levels?

Please watch this video and share your thoughts on the house price crash:

Click here to view the embedded video.

In essence the government own part of your home and your goal is to slowly buy back their investment in the house.So you may be able to buy your house now at a cheap price, rather than waiting till later to purchase.

Eventually you should be able to buy out the government’s share in the house and you will own the house outright.

In reality it is difficult for many first time home buyers to get onto the property ladder, especially in this difficult financial times.This may be a good solution for people who are not able to afford to buy a house on their own. Building home equity is a great way to build wealth.

Some people do not feel comfortable investing in a home with a friend or stranger.So this may be a brilliant move to help the disheartened first time home buyers.

After watching this video please let us know whether the shared house ownership with the government is a good option for first time buyers:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Either way the UK economy is experiencing financial difficulties and the government is looking to borrow more to stimulate the economy.

There is a lot of speculation as to why the credit crunch occurred to an apparently strong economy.

We think it is a real wake up call to many people who have been overspending due to the abundance of credit offered in the past. It is always best to try to save some money, even in good financial times. Because in reality you rarely know when the financial bad times will occur and for how long.

Please watch the following brilliant video as it clearly explains why the credit crunch occurred.

Are the banks to blame for the credit crunch and what can be done to avoid this from happening again?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Many UK home owners are falling behind on their mortgage repayments through no fault of their own. This can be a really worrying time for families as the family home is one of their most treasured possessions.

The main reasons for mortgage arrears include:

1. Losing job.
2. Falling into negative equity because of declining house prices. Hence the back ask for higher mortgage repayments.
3. Difficult to find a better remortgage deal.

But there is a good chance you can get out of mortgage arrears by:

• Don’t panick
• Work out whether the problem is minor, major or somewhere in between.
• Work out your various options to solve the problem.

The video prepared by MoneySuperMarket.com gives some great adice on how to stop mortgage arrears.

Please watch this video and then share your views on the best way to get out of mortgage arrears:

Click here to view the embedded video.

Now it is very difficult for these people to pay for the mortgage repayments. Unfortunately some companies are taking advantage of vulnerable people who are desperate to keep their homes.

I was pleased to watch this house repossession video as the company are an non profit organisation. So they should give unbiased, helpful advice.

Has anyone used this organisation in the past, it would be great to hear  whether you were happy with their house repossession advice?

Click here to view the embedded video.

FREE House Repossession Help Guides

Yes house repossessions are on the rise and people in some sectors are loosing their jobs. But the UK is a strong economy and it will flourish again, at times most of us have to go through financial hardship.

The man in this video gives a well rounded review of the UK economy and house repossession, however we think his attitude is a little pessimistic.

Considering the video below was made 11 months ago, when do you think the UK economy will improve?

Click here to view the embedded video.

Telegraph.co.uk – Their view on house repossession.