Cash, Cars and Babes

Just a few tips on how you can start reducing your carbon footprint. There's more here. 

• Save Energy
  • Turn off machines
  • Use energy saving light bulbs
  • Switch to a greenr supplier such as Ecotricity
  • Turn the thermostat down. Look at other ways of keeping warm before blasting with heat
• Reduce your carbon emissions
  • Try not to use the car unless you have to - walk or cycle instead
  • Turn off your engine if you are stationary for 2 minutes or more
  • Inflate your tyres
  • Don't break or accelerate sharply
• Recycle
  • Have a look at Recycle More
  • Recycling schemes are all over the place, and you can recycle loads of stuff
• Buy Green
  • Fair Trade products
  • Recycled toilet paper
• Email where possible, to prevent use of paper

According to a recent survey, 18,000 credit card applications are being rejected every day by banks, due to fears over rising debt. The crunch has forced lenders to toughen their lending criteria to protect profits.

In the last 6 months, an approximate 3.24million applications have been refused. Barclaycard seem to be the major firm choosing to reject applicants in their bid to limit their exposure to bad payers. Other companies are cutting spending limits and upping charges and interest rates.

The survey also found that one in 14 adults had an application rejected in the past 6 months. These rejections could be due to a credit check, revealing a CCJ, or even a missed payment on your phone bill. To add to this, credit rejections could affect your likelihood of borrowing money in the future, for such things as a mortgage.

It has also been found that 1.8million people have had their credit limits slashed in the last 6 months, typically being reduced by £500 or less. However, 15% of those affected saw drops of £2500 or more.

Being faced with a lack of funds, lenders are making it more difficult to get a mortgage, or even a remortgage. Halifax, our largest mortgage provider, increased its rates in April for borrowers who have less than 25% deposit available to place on their desired home. This was after Nationwide had done the same back in February. The number of mortgages on the market has fallen by 11,000 since the beginning of the credit crisis and members are running out of cash.

So how do you improve your chances of getting a mortgage?

• If you are a FTB or home mover, don't rush into things. Remember, its more difficult to secure a loan at the moment, and house prices are forecast to fall.
  
• If you are planning to remortgage, plan in advance.
  
• If possible, have a good deposit ready. Many lenders are only offering their best rates to borrowers who have 25% deposit stashed away. However, places like the Post Office are still offering top deal mortgages to those who have 10% available. So shop around. The more deposit the better.
  
• Check your credit history - get on the electoral register and make sure there are no missed payments. You dont want anything to pop up and put off the lender.
  
• Seek out the best deals. Fixed Rate mortgages offer security. And finally, don't over-stretch!

According to a recent housing report by Halifax, the average price of a property fell by 2.5% during March, being noted as the highest rate of decline since 1992, when prices were slashed by 3%.

in February, prices fell by 0.4% and these declines look set to continue in the coming months.

However, some places are seeing a continued rise in asking prices, despite the slump that is happening elsewhere. Parts of London, the East Midlands and East Anglia are seeing an increase in prices, with 1.6%, 2.2% and 1.4% increases respectively.

The report also said that due to the housing crisis, the average price of a UK property has fallen to £197,000, with a total drop of 0.3% in their latest index.

It seems the credit crunch is seriously affecting the number of remortgage applications as well as the number of declined mortgage applications. Data from the Mortgage Advice Bureau shows that over the past year, the number of remortgage loans taken out has risen by a massive 27%; the opposite being apparent of home buyer mortgages, which, due to the credit crunch, have decreased during the last year. A spokesman for the MAB said "With less people choosing to buy, increasing levels of business now comes from remortgage clients." Commenting on the current home owner situation, he added "...the demise of the 100 per cent mortgage also indicates a relatively bleak outlook for first-time buyers" First time buyers appear to have little choice in the matter, as mortgage lenders including the Bank of Scotland and Abbey had to pull the plug on their 100% mortgages.