UK Economics Focus Have fixed rate mortgages changed the housing market? The popularity of fixed rate mortgages in recent years appears to have dampened the sensitivity of the housing market to rising interest rates. That is not to say that higher interest rates will not... 17th May 2007 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus UK sub-prime mortgage lending: living on borrowed time? Unfolding developments in the US sub-prime mortgage market make uncomfortable reading. But do developments in the US have any implications for the UK mortgage market, which has also seen strong growth... 28th March 2007 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus UK sub-prime mortgage lending: living on borrowed time? Unfolding developments in the US sub-prime mortgage market make uncomfortable reading. But do developments in the US have any implications for the UK mortgage market, which has also seen strong growth... 28th March 2007 · 1 min read
UK Economic Outlook Onward and upward? The outlook for the UK's financial services sector (Q4 2006) The financial services sector has been one of the UK’s biggest success stories in recent years. Not only has it punched above its weight in driving GDP growth, but it has produced a significant trade... 4th October 2006 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Endowment shortfalls - another drag on consumer spending? Households have certainly not had it easy over the last year or so. And one factor which presents a further threat to spending over the next few years is the projected shortfalls on endowment... 2nd August 2006 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Endowment shortfalls - another drag on consumer spending? Households have certainly not had it easy over the last year or so. And one factor which presents a further threat to spending over the next few years is the projected shortfalls on endowment... 2nd August 2006 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Household debt goes bad Bad debt is on the rise, with households finally bowing under the pressure of their £1 trillion debt mountain. So far, the increase has been relatively modest. But over the next two or three years, we... 26th October 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Household debt goes bad Bad debt is on the rise, with households finally bowing under the pressure of their £1 trillion debt mountain. So far, the increase has been relatively modest. But over the next two or three years, we... 26th October 2005 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Should we be worried about M4? While most economic indicators have pointed to a slowdown in the growth of the UK economy in recent months, one has pointed strongly in the opposite direction. The growth of the broad money supply has... 8th November 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Getting a proper measure of the burden of household debt On the face of it, households are having an easy time servicing their record levels of debt. Interest payments as a percentage of their income (income gearing) are just 7.1%, less than half the 1990... 1st June 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus MEW won’t prevent a household spending slowdown Conventional wisdom has it that mortgage equity withdrawal (MEW), which rose to a record high in the fourth quarter of last year, has provided a strong boost to household spending and will continue to... 26th April 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus What could the government do to control household debt? The only tool which is currently available to dampen the record levels of household borrowing is the interest rate. But the Monetary Policy Committee has made it clear that its remit is to target... 3rd March 2004 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus Gearing up for a household borrowing slowdown Household debt continues to rise at worryingly rapid rates, having already reached record highs relative to households’ income. Admittedly, debt servicing costs are historically low, with interest... 26th November 2003 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus The return of negative equity With the threat of falling house prices around the corner, the question inevitably arises of whether we are about to see a return of the widespread negative equity of the 1990s, when thousands of... 20th November 2003 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus The Debt Threat to Consumers’ Expenditure Households have been building up debt at ever increasing rates over the past few years, spurred on by low interest rates and rising house prices. The average household now has debts totalling about... 28th July 2003 · 1 min read
UK Economics Focus The debt threat – a time bomb ticking? Few domestic economic issues have prompted as much concern recently as the level of household debt. Even the policymakers themselves have worried that, in cutting interest rates to very low levels to... 11th March 2002 · 1 min read
