Interest rates - At the time of writing (early 2009) the UK mortgages rate has fallen to an all time low as the government tries to kick start the housing market.
Greedy Lenders - Mortgage lenders have taken advantage once again by not passing on the mortgages rate the bank of England and the government would like to see.
Rip - off - Once again the mortgage lenders have seized upon an opportunity to increase their profits at the expense of we consumers. It is a rip-off as before the credit crunch the UK mortgages rate had 2pts (2%) added to the bank of England (BOE) base rate. Since then the mortgage lenders have increased the mortgages rate to 3pts over base.
Too little too late- The Prime Minister can point to the rest of the world in recession as a reason that the global economy is the reason the UK is suffering. The fact is the government and the BOE failed to act quickly enough to avoid the plight the mortgage and housing market is in with too little too late.
Irresponsible lending - The mortgage regulator (FSA) stood by and watched the lenders “gambling” with our money in the sub prime housing market. A blind man on a galloping horse could see the mortgage lenders were lending irresponsibly but apparently not the FSA, or for that matter the lenders themselves.USA sneeze, we catch a cold - Long before any action was taken by the UK government, BOE or the FSA the housing market had collapsed in the USA. The so called brains of Britain haven’t heard of the” sneeze and cold” analogy. The mortgages rate over the pond fell to 1% while our decision makers were still stalling on what action should be taken about the UK mortgages rate.
The real culprits - It could easily be argued that the real culprits in all of this was the ultimate decision makers at the mortgage lenders. Most of these chief executives were Sir’s and Lords who failed the UK economy and yet most were rewarded with massive pay offs and obscene pensions. When did rewarding failures become the norm?
Time for real action - It is time for the decision makers to take real action to stimulate the UK housing market. Mortgage rates have yet to fall in line with the 0.5% BOE base rate and the Govt. need to free up money for house building. First Time Buyers (FTB's) stimulate the whole housing market and economy therefore mortgages should be made available to them. My book will help get you on the property ladder.
The losers - We tax payers are the real losers even though the mortgages rate is at an all time low the lenders are still increasing their profits and mortgages rate by charging borrowers more to borrow.We've been let down - We are the one’s who will be picking up the tab for the incompetence of the lenders’, the FSA. BOE and the government. They are the ones who are accountable for our money and they are the one's who have let us down.
Winners and losers………….I’ll let you decide which is which.
Good news - This article serves only as a little knowledge about this specific subject but you can download my book The Mortgage Bible (it’s free for a short while) which will arm you with almost everything you need to know about mortgages. Now that is good news.
