ganymede

If it helps I got one in 1989. There was also a wheeze known as deferred interest loans. Borrow at 15% and pay back at 10%. Then after two years or so the interest was rolled up into the loan, with a massive increase in loan size and payment. Improved 'affordability' though. Not seen these this time around.

Our economy runs in a parallel universe. Gordon the Great will ensure the miracle continues!

They announced thay were setting up shop (apologies for pun) in the U.S. It was on the radio earlier, not sure if R4 or 5 live - been a long day.

the country is run by a pair of tits

Cannot see road charging working. It will need an infrastructure and IT project beyond the capability of goverment to organise. Will be the b@stard child of the channel tunnel rail link and the CSA.

Both systems screw their citizens and plunder the environment; but capitalism produces fewer poor people.

I just worked out that at 8 quid a cut I will have to live another 80 years at a cut a month to spend as much. Even if I did live that long I would be bald, suppose I could spend the rest on wigs or brasso. Some are more equal than others.

press conference on now http://www.ecb.int/home/html/index.en.html

As much as I detest Bliar does anyone really think Gordon Clown will be any better?

Gives the slippery b'stard someone to blame it on!

Seeing the opposite up here. Been watching an area in Northampton and that dropped at the end of the year to the low 30's from the mid 50's. August rate cut maybe? Most of the houses looked like they were taken off the market. Most are ridiculously overpriced.

Not sure the sheeple have figured it out, they have just run out of cash. Will run out of work soon too.

What if it goes the other way and results in a reduction in the number of civil servants?

Was in a similar position in 1990. Have the second child, enjoy them, time will pass and things will get better.

I'm scared too. Who is going to pay to clean up this mess? Not the slack jawed, lame brained, debt ridden cretins who got us into it. Not our lords and masters with their large salaries and pension perks. Me and you and anybody else with enough sense to still be debt free and ready for a large tax take. rant over

Subject is renting and letting and the Law. Guess this should be in the renting section; but does anybody read that one? As most of us have landlords I think it's relevant.

Looks like the city finally smelled the coffee, wonder if its drifted along to Westminster yet?

As the price will rise and the costs hardly move, the profits will be good for a while.

only one line - get a push bike and a wooly jumper

Published this morning. http://www.national-statistics.gov.uk/cci/nugget.asp?id=256 December's retail sales results show a continuation of the increased growth seen since the summer. The volume of retail sales in the three months October to December 2005 was 1.6 per cent higher than in the previous three months, the highest since July 2004. This follows growth of 1.0 per cent in the three months to November and compares with a decrease of 0.3 per cent at the same time in 2004. Three-monthly growth in sales volume for food stores was 1.1 per cent and 2.0 per cent for non-food stores. Three-monthly growth was positive for all sectors including the non-store sector at 0.8 per cent where it was positive for the first time since June 2005. Non-specialised stores showed growth of 2.7 per cent with household goods stores showing the largest growth of 3.6 per cent. Compared with the same period a year ago, sales volumes in the three months to December 2005 were up 2.8 per cent, the highest since March 2005. Within non-food stores growth was positive for all sectors, the strongest being non-specialised stores at 4.4 per cent and household goods at 3.8 per cent. Analysis of monthly figures shows that the total sales volume increased by 0.4 per cent between November and December, following an upwardly revised increase of 0.9 per cent for November and 0.4 per cent in October. There were increases on the month for household goods stores, ‘other’ non-food stores and non-store retailing. Growth was highest for household goods stores at 5.2 per cent, the largest since January 2000, reflecting a relatively strong December for furniture stores and electrical goods stores. Growth for non-store retailing showed an increase of 1.6 per cent reflecting increased sales by specialist internet retailers. There were monthly decreases for food stores at 0.6 per cent, non-specialised stores at 0.2 per cent and clothing stores at 2.6 per cent, reflecting a lower than usual seasonal impact in December, following a relatively strong November. For the three months to December the unadjusted value of retail sales was 1.8 per cent higher than in the same period a year earlier. Average weekly sales in December were £6.4 billion, 3.6 per cent higher than a year ago, the highest growth since November 2004. This also represents the highest annual growth for a December since 2001. Sales values for food stores increased by 4.2 per cent over the year compared with 3.8 per cent for non-food stores, the first positive growth for non-food stores since March 2005. In 2005 as a whole, the total value of retail sales is estimated at £249 billion, up 1.0 per cent on 2004. This compares with growth of 4.6 per cent in 2004 and is the lowest annual increase since the Second World War. The previous record low was 2.6 per cent in 2003.

Can you hear the sound of the bottom of the barrel being scraped?

Has it been a long week? It was a humourous reference to a newspaper. I too look forward to an outcome that means an end to Blairism. As for comparisons to Ben Elton you are nearly on ignore!

Unemployment would lead almost two-thirds of borrowers to default on personal loans and credit card balances within three months of losing their income. An authoritative survey also finds that more than 40 per cent would default on their mortgages. The research, by Combined Insurance, the specialist acci-dent and health insurer, highlights that a spiralling of bad debt problems remains linked to conditions in the jobs market. Meanwhile, Citizens Advice has disclosed that up to three- quarters of the people with debt problems it has seen in the past couple of months are being recommended to declare themselves bankrupt by its advisers because of the huge size of their debts. The charity said it is seeing dozens of cases each week where people have debts of more than £100,000. It handled more than 1 million consumer debt cases in 2003/4 and said new figures due next month would show a significant increase. Sue Edwards, the organisation's senior social policy officer, said: "It is going to get worse before it gets better. Our bureaux are seeing more and more cases of bad debt every week - many with huge debts built up from several creditors. Levels of debt over £100,000 are not uncommon any more." Combined Insurance asked 2,000 people which financial commitments they would not be able to keep up for more than three months should they lose their income through illness or injury. One in two first-time buyers would not be able to afford their mortgage payments after three months of unemployment. As many as 41 per cent of all borrowers would be unable to pay their utility bills, while 38 per cent said they would not have enough money to put food on the table. Last week similar research by Alliance & Leicester, the bank, of almost 2,300 consumers showed that 6m people have less than £500 to call on in an emergency. Combined Insurance said one in three people it surveyed admitted that they would be forced to borrow to cover their shortfall. But Citizens Advice warned that the majority of people with debt problems have attempted to get out of trouble by increasing their borrowing. "Robbing Peter to pay Paul is a risky strategy," said Edwards. "We see it all the time." So far this year banks have made provisions of £3 billion to cover possible bad debts, while last week Bradford & Bingley, the mortgage lender, revealed the number of homes it repossessed in the past year had increased threefold. Ten days ago the Department of Trade and Industry said the number of people declaring themselves insolvent hit a record high during the second quarter of this year.

This is worrying, an EA that sees both sides of the argument. Although this restored my faith "A hasty rate drop runs the risk of encouraging people to spend money they do not have" Can't have the BOE doing that, what would the EA be left with then!

Don't understand why you link buying a house and getting on with your life. Save the difference between your rent and a mortgage and get busy living!