Mortgage lenders have warned that there may be a shortage of credit in the coming months, leading to many first time buyers unable to secure mortgages.

The Council of Mortgage lenders has said that government schemes to keep mortgage lending afloat end in 2014, leaving a funding gap of £300 billion.

Before all the economic problems of the last few months, the gap between what the banks took in savings versus what they lent out was covered my the wholesale market in mortgage debt. However when the world financial markets were hit in 2007, the UK government was forced to plug this gap with the special liquidity scheme and credit guaranteed scheme.  Read more... (173 words, 1 image, estimated 42 secs reading time)

With all the BA strike talk at the moment, if you’ve booked a flight and your airline goes on strike, what sort of comeback do you have?

If your flight is cancelled due to industrial action (aka a strike) EU regulations state that you should either be provided with an alternative flight to your destination or your plane ticket should be refunded in full within seven days of the cancellation.

If you have bought a flexible or refundable ticket, you can cancel the ticket ahead of the strike action and rebook your flight. If your plane ticket is non refundable, you should not cancel the ticket until strike action is fully confirmed as you will not receive a refund.  Read more... (327 words, 1 image, estimated 1:18 mins reading time)

Whilst the Bank of England’s low interest rates are benefiting those with variable rate loans and mortgages, savers are losing out massively. New research has shown that eight in ten savings accounts are effectively losing money.

Some savings accounts have been given rates as low as 0.05 percent. To put that into perspective, a basic rate tax payer with £5,000 in an account with this interest rate would receive £2 a year after tax; for a higher-rate tax payer, this equates to just £1.50 a year after tax. The low rates mean that savings rates are lower than the rate of inflation – September’s inflation rate was 1.1 percent, October is 1.5 percent – thus savers are losing money in real terms.  Read more... (237 words, 1 image, estimated 57 secs reading time)

The recession has bitten hard into the confidence and budgets of consumers and has reflected itself in recent research that has indicated that 1 in 5 Britons plan to spend less this year at Christmas. The survey, published by Gfk NOP, covered 1,000 adults and also indicated that just 1 in 10 plan to spend more on gifts this year compared to last. The study implies that we will all be spending around 15% less this Christmas compared to last – a sure sign that we are all far more cost conscious and concerned that times are still tough.  Read more... (475 words, 1 image, estimated 1:54 mins reading time)

Commodities are always a popular thing to trade, however one particular commodity seems to be catching the eye of many investors.

Water – the stuff we often take for granted – has so far been ignored by many investors however interest in this precious commodity is on the increase. So why has it been ignored so far? The first reason is that it isn’t often traded by itself. Many investors also look to the more traditional trades such as oil as these have the potential for big gains whereas water tends to be seen as quite a defensive strategy.  Read more... (259 words, estimated 1:02 mins reading time)

According to the latest research, over half of us have already begun our Christmas shopping. Three quarters of those who have already begun to buy Christmas presents have said that the early start to their shopping is in an attempt to spread the cost of Christmas.

The research has also shown that the amount spent on presents is set to fall this year with a third of shoppers saying they are planning to spend considerably less than last year, and 80 percent of people looking to spend less than £250. In 2008, the average spend was £320 per person.  Read more... (167 words, estimated 40 secs reading time)

The current upturn in the UK stock market is said to be being driven ‘ordinary’ householders buying shares because they are sick of the poor interest rates attached to their savings account.

The FTSE 100 index was pushed up 3.2 percent last week. This has followed a six month rally that has driven blue-chip shares up 50 percent over their March low.

Experts believe that both of these rallies are in part due to ordinary buyers, that is buyers who are not represented by big investment firms. Since June, the number of these buyers has risen to levels equal to the dotcom boom of 2000, and in the last three months, deals placed through execution-only stockbrokers has risen to over 4 million.  Read more... (294 words, estimated 1:11 mins reading time)