Archive for the ‘Debt Management’ Category

How to furnish your home during a credit crunch

Wednesday, February 18th, 2009

Websites such as freecycle.org.uk, snaffleup.co.uk and gumtree.com offer good second-hand furniture and what’s more, it’s free. All you have to do is bring the van. In the past 12 months, Gumtree has seen a 49% increase in members using its Freebies section, and a 146% increase in the amount of those using the website’s Swap Shop. Freecycle has 1.5million members in Britain and claims to keep 600 tons of goods out of landfill per day through the 85 countries in which it operates.

You can also use auctionalfie.com for quick multiple auction searches, to help you find those bargains.

Overpay your mortgage to save thousands

Wednesday, February 4th, 2009

Borrowers can save thousands of pounds in interest and trim years off the life of their mortgages by making regular overpayments. Even a lump sum overpayment can make a difference. Banks are currently pushing for overpayment as it helps to build their capital bases.

HSBC and Lloyds TSB are writing to all their customers informing them how to make overpayments after thousands have asked how to do this. But make sure the lender reduces the term of your mortgage, not your monthly repayments.

Sweenter offered to borrowers to move on

Tuesday, July 8th, 2008

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Former specialist mortgage lender Edeus is offering cash sweeteners to encourage its borrowers to redeem their mortgages early.  It is also waiving early repayment charges and will not charge borrowers exit fees. The incentives are available to selected clients over an undisclosed period.  Edeus will be encouraging the selected borrowers to contact the brokers that originally introduced the loan to Edeus in order to source a suitable deal with another lender.    The firm, launched less than two years ago, was a specialist lender at the forefront of the UK’s subprime mortgage sector but plans to move into asset quality assessment and debt management.

London’s negative equity locations

Sunday, April 20th, 2008

The London postcodes at greatest risk from the housing crisis was revealed today by the Evening Standard. Tens of thousands of home owners across the capital will be plunged into negative equity this year if property prices fall by 20%.  People who have taken on huge mortgages compared with the value of their property will owe more than the building is worth.  The worst hit would be buy-to-let investors who tried to cash in on the housing boom, according to analysis obtained by the Evening Standard.  Below are the top 10 streets and London boroughs most likely to be affected.  Find out more at thisismoney.co.uk.

Top 10 London streets most at risk:
Calderwood Street SE18
Erebus Drive SE28
Queenstown Road SW8
Woolwich Common SE18
St Saviours Estate SE1
Glashier Street SE8
Greenhaven Drive SE28
St John’s Estate N1
Great Dover Street SE1
Borough High Street SE1

 Risk level by London boroughs:
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Halifax defies plea by PM and raises its loan rates

Wednesday, April 16th, 2008

halifax_logo1.jpg Britain’s biggest mortgage lender today defied Gordon Brown’s plea to cut mortgage rates.  The Halifax is raising rates on some mortgage offers by 0.5% despite his calling bank chiefs to No10 to urge them to sign up to the Government’s strategy to tackle the global economic turmoil.  The Prime Minister was also bluntly warned that a string of building societies could be forced out of the mortgage market by the looming crisis.  Mr Brown is said to be prepared to offer banks help to raise funds but wants them to pass on interest rate cuts, do everything they can not to repossess the homes of people struggling to meet their mortgage payments, and to offer loans to first-time buyers.  The Bank of England is injecting a further £15bn of liquidity into the markets, taking its total recent support to more than £50bn. 

Free financial advice for thousands

Monday, March 3rd, 2008

The Government has pledged £12m for a large-scale trial of a free personal finance service that will offer general advice on issues such as managing debt, budgeting, retirement planning and understanding financial jargon on a two-year trial. The “money guidance” pilot project was the main recommendation of the final report of a 14 month long work led by Otto Thoresen, chief executive of life insurer AEGON UK which proposed an impartial, sales-free, personalised advice service to help people better manage their money. The report also claimed that consumers could be more than £15bn better off if they had access to financial guidance over the next 50 years. Over the same period, it could save the government some £6bn through reductions in Pension Credit payments and other benefits and also make the financial services industry £5bn because they would benefit from lower levels of bad debt, a better relationship with consumers and a reduction in advertising and selling costs. The recommendations come at a time when Britons have raked up a record UK personal debt of £1.4 trillion and are increasingly feeling the effects of the credit crunch.
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