| A recent poll claims that two out of five middle-class professionals are scared they will struggle to keep up the repayments on their mortgage in 2009. High earners represent those most worried that they will default on payments. The findings pinpoint how the economic downturn has affected the City, retailers and manufacturing and is now forecast increasingly to hit other professions such as marketing and advertising agencies, law and accountancy, and public relations companies. The housing market report, conducted by YouGov, on behalf of the Conservatives found that almost half of middle-class professionals confessed to being 'worried' about being unable to pay their mortgage next year. This compares with 46 per cent of blue collar workers expressing the same concern. Of those in the higher income bracket, 15 per cent stated they were 'very worried' about not being able to make their repayments, as opposed to 12 per cent for other social groups - perhaps because they over-borrowed in the years of the property boom. The Shadow Housing Minister, stressed that the recession was causing an impact across all sections of society. He said that homeowners in all types of housing, throughout the country were now more concerned than they have ever been about their ability to keep a roof over their heads. He went on to claim that while Gordon Brown wanted us to believe that the Government had mended the housing market roof when the sun was shining, it is now emerging that for many hard-working families worry about keeping their home is greater than ever before. The Council of Mortgage Lenders is forecasting that repossessions will double to 75,000 next year and the Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development yesterday warned that more than 3,300 jobs a day are set to be lost during the first quarter of next year. The Institute is predicting that unemployment will increase by at least 600,000 next year. Ministers and lenders are working together on schemes to help people keep their home if they face a short-term-loss of work, although this is less likely to be of any use to many people in London due to limits on the size of mortgages. Individuals facing financial difficulties were urged to act quickly by the Consumer Affairs Minister. He confirmed that people struggling to cope with debt should look for assistance as quickly as possible. It is imperative that people contact one or more of the wide range of organisations who specialise in providing expert advice on debt because they really can make a difference. He also reported that, compared with the same time last year, the number of people contacting the National Debtline rocketed by 40 per cent to 23,000. Meanwhile, according to new figures householders in Britain repaid 5.7 billion pounds of home loans in the first quarter to September as they endeavoured to reduce their debt. Furthermore, the International Monetary Fund has expressed doubts over the value of the 2.5 per cent cut in VAT, introduced by the Government. It believes it is questionable whether just a few percentage points decrease in the VAT is salient enough to encourage consumers to alter the timing of their purchases. Struggling with your Mortgage payments. Take a look at the Brokers Online web site. We offer our clients articles and information on dealing with Debt . We also provide Debt Advice, Debt Management, Debt Plans and IVA’s. |
