Saturday, Feb 03, 2007
Rising insolvencies are the fault of Gordon Brown and his economy built on debt
TimesOnline: Debt-torn Britain sees insolvency climb to a record high
Experts give warning that the scale of the debt problem was going to get worse this year as consumers began to pay the price for chronic overspending in the first half of the decade.
George Osborne, the Shadow Chancellor, said: “Rising insolvencies are just the latest symptom of an economy built on debt and Gordon Brown is to blame.”
Posted by denzil @ 12:16 PM (136 views) Add Comment
8 Comments
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1. Orwell said...
Yes but nevertheless some people prosper ... check out the Daily Mail article today:
Blairs buy home number five
Exclusive
by GORDON RAYNER -
Tony Blair is facing fresh questions over his finances after it emerged that he and his wife Cherie are buying another house - their fifth property. The Blairs have exchanged contracts on an £800,000 mews house behind their £3.65million London townhouse, and intend to knock the properties into one. Despite owing around £4million on the four properties they already own, the Blairs have borrowed even more to buy their new property, taking their mortgage debts towards the £5million mark. The news once again raises the question of just how the Blairs can afford their property investments, which will soon involve mortgage repayments of up to £20,000 per month...the Blairs have been able to borrow the equivalent of 25 times the Prime Minister’s salary.
WELL HOW DID THEY DO THAT AS TOMMY COOPER SAID?
Building work to knock the two properties into one is likely to add up to £100,000 to the cost of the purchase...If the Blairs have taken out a 95 per cent mortgage on their new house - as they did when they bought Connaught Square - that would amount to £760,000, assuming the mews house cost the £800,000 which local estate agents valued it at yesterday.
Together with the £3,467,500 loan on Connaught Square, £472,500 in mortgages on two flats in Bristol and an undisclosed loan on their constituency home, which was remortgaged in 2003, it would mean the Blairs’ total mortgage debts total at least £4.7million.
Although the Blairs should be more than capable of paying off their mortgages once they leave Downing Street, the question remains of how they can cover their repayments in the meantime.
YES WE DO WONDER DON'T WE MR. BLAIR?
Whilst the mortgages on the two flats in Bristol - famously bought with the help of con-man Peter Foster in 2002 - are covered by rent of around £2,400 per month after tax, the Blairs have been forced to rent out Connaught Square for £2,000 per week rather than the £4,000 they had hoped to get, leaving them around £6,000 per month short.
I THINK THIS IS THE PROPERTY AKA "BLAIR HOUSE" BY BRISTOL UNIVERSITY
Mr Blair’s salary of £185,771 - £115,000 after tax - would be almost entirely swallowed by the shortfall on Connaught Square and the repayments on the mews house, and Mrs Blair has cut back dramatically on the legal work from which she was said to earn £250,000 a year at the height of her career.
Asked whether any alterations to the property would be paid for by the taxpayer, a Downing Street spokesman said: "These questions are premature.
"No decisions have been taken but any future decisions will, of course, be taken in accordance with the rules."
The spokesman refused to comment on the Blairs’ mortgage arrangements.
YES WE DO WONDER MR BLAIR.
2. Orwell said...
More interestingly in the article:
Sue Edwards, senior debt policy officer at the Citizens Advice Bureau, said that IVAs could leave people with debt problems paying off more interest than before. She said that there had to be affordable options in place to tackle the growing crisis. “There are thousands of people who have substantial debt and will never be able to pay it off,” she said.
As I may already have said,the CAB can be for some, a much better option, as they will write and get debts remitted. These charlatans are only doing what the CAB did anyway so far as I can see.
3. Orwell said...
Inflation? what inflation?
US cold spell sends oil prices up
Weather patterns in the US are influencing oil prices
Oil prices are approaching $58 a barrel amid colder weather in the US and increasing speculation that oil cartel Opec might cut output.
US light, sweet crude rose 37 cents to $57.93 in New York, while in London, Brent crude rose 51 cents to $57.23. A cold spell in the US - the world's largest consumer of oil - has sent oil 14% higher since January's 20-month low of $49.40, when temperatures were mild. Fears over a possible strike in Nigeria have also pushed prices higher. The country's key unions are threatening to strike, in reaction to increasing violence in Nigeria's petrol producing region. This could potentially affect supplies from one of the world's leading oil producers.
Geopolitical tensions during last summer, including in Nigeria, were a major factor in sending oil prices sharply higher to reach a record mark of $78 a barrel. This sentiment was echoed by John Kilduff, vice president of New York brokerage Fimat, who said oil would likely hover around $60 a barrel rather than falling to $50.
Oh Dear... Gawd...
4. Orwell said...
I wonder whether the Blairs would pass the BBC test :
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/shared/spl/hi/business/debtcheck/html/index.stm
5. enuii said...
I think the Inland Revenue should have a look at Tony's finances as well, I wonder if he got a fixed rate deal (he will need it) or is it all on the TQ.
6. japanese uncle said...
"the two flats in Bristol - famously bought with the help of con-man Peter Foster in 2002" should read
" the two flats in Bristol - famously bought with the help of his professional colleague Peter Foster in 2002"
7. Orwell said...
From the same article:
“People are, without doubt, behaving irresponsibly with credit, blindly taking on debt without thinking about how they will repay it.”
I spoke to a taxi driver last night. He had a County Court Judgement against him, and no accounts for the next 18 months and yet soemone is going to lend him £140 - 150K to buy a house.
8. Hardcheese said...
HA Your all jealous as he lining his pockets, staying in office as long as possible so he can keep drawing his wages. He is making a mockery of the English working class.
I would hate to see the Mr & Mrs average get stuck in negative equity, as it is these people who are advised to purchase over valued properties, (as they will always go up in value you know). And Blair acting as a role model. I actually heard an estate agent actually quote; How can the price of proporty go down?, If the Blairs are buying there is nothing to worry about! Famous last words perhaps?
This Mr Blair dont give a damn about you and me, only for himself. In the old days we would hang them from a tree, that is if we had'nt cut most of them down.