Osborne fails to instil confidence in consumers

Earlier this week the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, delivered his 2011 Budget speech, which was watched by many people hoping to get a glimmer of hope with regards to their financial situations. Osborne did announce a range of measures that were aimed at trying to boost affordability for different groups such as first time buyers and drivers. However, according to the results of a recent poll many people are still facing uncertainty and are not feeling any more confident about their futures following the budget.

The chancellor announced a number of measures designed to try and help struggling consumers in the current climate, such as a new equity loan scheme for first time buyers to help them get onto the property ladder and a cut in fuel tax instead of an increase in order to help drivers cope with the soaring cost of petrol.

Despite these measures a recent poll carried out by uswitch.com has shown that many people now feel less confident about their financial situations than they did before the budget speech was delivered. The survey resulted showed that around 36 percent of consumers were less confident about their finances now than they had been prior to the budget speech. Another 20 percent of respondents admitted that they were concerned about their jobs.

Around 58 percent of the people that were polled as part of the survey said that they believed that now as not a good time to take on any additional financial commitments or make any major decision relating to finances because of the uncertainty that they faced with regards to their finances and their jobs.

One official from uswitch.com stated: “Stripping down living costs and household bills to the bare minimum will help consumers enjoy more disposable income.”

Tags: chancellor of the exchequer, loan, additional financial commitments, Kenneth Clarke, George Osborne

Beat the VAT rise and pick up your big ticket items now

As outlined in the emergency budget earlier this year, which was delivered by the Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne, VAT is set to increase from the start of next year, rising from 17.5 percent to 20 percent, as the coalition government strives to make more money to clear the huge public deficit.

This will come as bad news for the many cash strapped consumers who are already struggling to make ends meet, because it means that price on many things will soar even further. This is why many people are now rushing to make their purchases in the few weeks that they have left prior to the rate of VAT increasing.

The items that many people are rushing to buy include big ticket items such as electrical items like televisions, fridge freezers, washing machines, and the like. Many are also rushing to book holidays before the prices go up, as the effect of even a small 2.5 percent increase on the cost of more expensive items can make a big difference.

Bearing in mind that VAT is set to increase by 2.5 percent at the start of the year it is a good idea to determine whether you are going to be making any big ticket purchases in the early part of next year, and then bringing the purchase forward if possible. This could save you the cost of the additional 2.5 percent, which on higher priced items can make a difference.

If you time it right you could get a bargain on your big ticket items. Directly after Christmas the price of many items is slashed by retailers, and the VAT increase is not set to come in until the start of January. This means that if you purchase your items between Christmas and New Yearn you could benefit from the lower prices from the sale, and you can avoid the VAT hike, which means that you could get a bargain.

In order to make the biggest savings plan you sales shopping, and try and work out which retailers are holding sales between Christmas and New Year so that you can plan your sales shopping accordingly. You should also consider planning ahead, and if you are considering anything such as booking a holiday make the booking early to avoid the VAT increase so that you pay less for your holiday.

Tags: time, New Year's Day, cash strapped consumers, chancellor of the exchequer, consumers, increase, additional 2.5 percent, budget

Mortgage default levels falling

Over the past few years problems with finances, higher mortgage rates, and the global financial crisis has plunged many people into severe financial difficulties, and as a result of this many homeowners have been unable to keep on top of their mortgage repayments.

The high level of mortgage defaults over recent years has resulted in many people having their homes repossessed, which naturally caused a great deal of concern amongst consumers and officials. The recession also took its toll on the ability of homeowners to make repayments on their mortgages, with many people losing their jobs as a result of the recession.

However, with the recession now over and the financial markets easing up the level of mortgage repayment defaults has been falling recently. The Bank of England has issued figures showing the fall in the level of mortgage repayment defaults in the UK, which will come as good news for banks and industry groups.

The fall in mortgage defaults has been occurring for a while now, and industry experts have said that in the latter part of 2010 it will remain largely flat. Some have even predicted that in the short to medium term mortgage repayment defaults could actually start to increase again as a result in an economic slowdown caused by changes made in the recent emergency budget by the new Chancellor of the Exchequer, George Osborne.

Further job losses are also expected to occur as a result of the budget changes, and this could affect the ability of more people to make their mortgage repayments. Officials advise those that feel that they are in danger of falling behind with mortgage repayment to contact their lender or a debt advice group as early as possible so that the problem can be sorted out before banks have to resort to repossession action.

Tags: loan, chancellor of the exchequer, mortgage rates, crisis, homeowners, Mortgage loan, default, mortgage

Firms will have to stop forcing pensioners to retire

In his recent pre-election budget speech the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, indicated that the Labour party was looking at scrapping the default retirement age, which would mean that firms would have to stop forcing pensioners to retire at the legal retirement age of sixty five.

At present firms can use their discretion with regards to retirement of workers that reach this age, but whilst they can allow them to continue working they can also refuse to allow them to continue to work should they wish to do so.

Under new reforms, should they go ahead, firms would have to allow workers to continue working if they want to. Alistair Darling indicated in his budget speech that the Labour party would either scrap the default retirement age or would increase the retirement age. He also indicated that the party was looking at giving older workers more rights with regards to being able to get more flexible working hours and conditions from their employers.

A number of campaign groups and charities have said that having the current retirement age in place is discrimination, as it means that older workers that feel perfectly capable of continuing to work could be forced to retire by employers simply because of their age, regardless of their abilities, health, and other factors. However, some believe that the plans will cause concern for some businesses who do not want to be stuck with older workers that refuse to retire.

In his budget speech Alistair Darling stated: ‘To enable people who want to work longer, we are consulting on reform of employers’ right to make people retire at 65. We are looking at options which include scrapping the default retirement age, raising it or giving employees stronger rights.’

Tags: Ed Miliband, speech alistair darling, Alistair Darling, chancellor of the exchequer, retirement, Social Issues, pensioners, place

Is chancellor too optimistic about recovery of the nation?

Most people in the UK are now well aware that the UK is going through a very rocky period, with the global financial crisis still taking effect and the recession further impacting on the economy. Read more

Tags: chancellor, chancellor of the exchequer, credit crunch, growth, couple, uk, opposition party members, course

Will homeowners see any benefit from the rate cuts?

After a series of interest rate hikes between August 2006 and July 2007, which left many homeowners struggling to keep up with mortgage repayments because of the higher interest rates from banks, many were relieved to see interest rates plummet over recent months. In October of this year the Bank of England reduced the base rate from 5 percent top 4.5 percent, and a month later the central bank wiped another 1.5 percent off the base rate, taking it to just 3 percent. In December yet another 1 percent came off, which took the base rate to a fifty seven year low of just 2 percent. Read more

Tags: mortgage rates, base rate, great news, chancellor of the exchequer, market, Savings and loan association, property market, rates

Icesave customers get 100% guarantee

Amidst all of the financial chaos that has been taking place over recent days, the Chancellor of the Exchequer, Alistair Darling, has issued some good news to consumers that had money saved with the collapsed Icelandic Internet bank, Icesave. Darling has announced that savers with money with Icesave will receive a 100% guarantee on all of their savings, so those with more than the £50,000 threshold will not lose any of their money as a result of the collapse. Read more

Tags: exceptional circumstances, News, GBP, chancellor of the exchequer, top, Business Finance, treasury official, iceland banks

Increased safety for money of Post Office savers

As a result of changes to the Irish banking system some savers in the UK, including those with Post Office savings accounts, will see their savings guarantee almost double compared to that of savers with other financial institutions. Post Office savers will be offered a safety net of up to almost £80,000 on their savings. Also included will be savers that have money with UK branches of Irish banks, such as Anglo-Irish Bank and the Bank of Ireland. Read more

Tags: meantime, post, chancellor of the exchequer, Anglo, Alistair Darling, post office, savings

Rate Matcher customers charged increased arrangement fees

Back in April of this year the high street lender HSBC announced the launch of a new mortgage product designed to help homeowners who were on cheap fixed rate mortgages that were due to come to an end. The bank promised to match the current interest rate of those on low rate fixed mortgages with any other lenders, which meant that homeowners whose cheap fixed rate mortgages were due to end would not have to worry about going onto a high standard variable rate. Read more

Tags: chancellor of the exchequer, finance, Matcher, lender, Mortgages, idea, squeeze, arrangement fees