Tuesday, Feb 19, 2008
View from across the pond
LA Times: Loans go bad as British housing bubble pops
When Shirley Hale's husband dumped her for a younger woman she didn't get mad. She got a new house. By last year, Hale had fallen behind on the payments on her "gorgeous little place" and was looking at foreclosure -- until a mortgage "rescue" company stepped in. Hale signed over her house for $50,000 less than what it was worth, and was told that in return she could continue living there as long as she liked for $600/month. Six months later, the mortgage was transferred to Britain's major sub-prime lenders and Hale was given 28 days to get out.
Sub-prime loans account for more than 6% of all the mortgages in Britain. [I thought there was no sub-prime in Britain ;p - LP]
Posted by little professor @ 08:57 AM (1349 views) Add Comment
8 Comments
- If you do not have an admin password leave the password field blank.
- If you would like to request a password allowing you to add comments and blog news articles without needing each one approved manually, send an e-mail to the webmaster.
- Your email address is required so we can verify that the comment is genuine. It will not be posted anywhere on the site, will be stored confidentially by us and never given out to any third party.
- Please note that any viewpoints published here as comments are user's views and not the views of HousePriceCrash.co.uk.
- Please adhere to the Guidelines
1. Ellipse said...
great find! nice to see foreign press reporting the (bad) state of the market and the (bad again) industry practices
2. happyrenterz said...
Article is available here http://q13.trb.com/news/la-fi-ukmortgages19feb19,0,2240824.story
3. paul said...
Yes, Britain's dirty little secret of which the UK media still will not speak its name.
Britain has many many times more subprime than the US. In addition, the UK has what is called "non-conforming" mortgages which is a by-word for semi-sub-prime - not as risky as subprime but still high risk.
That 6% is according to the biggest VI of all too - RICS. The non-conforming loans make up an additional 25% or so of the total mortgage market.
4. drewster said...
"I don't even know who owns it now," Hale, 72, said wistfully in an interview in the tiny public-housing apartment she lives in now. "It's empty still. . . . The garden shed has been stolen, all my built-in kitchen has been smashed to pieces, the wallpaper's been ripped off. . . . They could have let me stay."
This is the real scandal - why are these homes allowed to be left empty? There should be a 200% council tax rate on empty homes!
5. happyrenterz said...
Good article thanks LP. I liked the comparison between UK and US subprime.
6. little professor said...
Strange, the article I linked to was available before but now it says it requires subscription. Happyrenterz' link still works though.
http://q13.trb.com/news/la-fi-ukmortgages19feb19,0,2240824.story
7. drewster said...
@LP: Many of the subscription newspaper websites such as the LA Times and the Financial Times give you your first few pages free, then they charge for subsequent visits. For example on the FT website it allows five free articles per month (more if you register your email address with them).
I've noticed with FT articles that if you Google for the title, then the first result is usually an open-access copy of the same article, on the FT's site. I hope their web team don't hear about this little loophole...
8. Plato said...
Ahhh !!! So the Subcrime market has come home to roost on these angelic shores. Surely not here in the Worlds greatest example of exemplary business dealing? The Great "City" is surely above manipulating investment. The ruling Government would not hear of the slightest Blemish attributable to the 'Apple of their eye'. I mean - just look at the examples they set. Darling - Sort it out will you.