Bank of England hit by unexpected mortgage famine - interest rates to be cut again ?

Daily Telegraph today :-
UK mortgage approvals down 72pc from peak, Bank of England figures show
The number of UK mortgage approvals dropped again in October, equalling their lowest low and 72pc down on their peak in 2007, according to the latest figures from the Bank of England.
Monthly approvals ran at 114,000 per month mid 2007, 88,000 in October 2007 and 32,000 in September a drop of 1,000 on August.

Financial Times 25th August 2007

" .....Mr Moulton (of Alchemy Partners) said the UK seemed on the brink of a “mortgage famine” that could erode house prices, eat into consumer confidence and hurt economic growth."

“A mortgage famine is, I think, one of the most likely events. It will have an impact on the economy. It will hit house prices, and they are such an important factor in consumer psychology that it will feed through into the economy.”

No surprises there or a year earlier

"Dicing with the debt meister", by Maggie Lee The Independent 29/10/06

"Jon Moulton, founder and managing partner of the private-equity firm Alchemy, has never shied from speaking his mind. "We're looking at an overheated market right now," he says, "and we'll see some spectacular falls in the next year or two. It's just a matter of time."

An unforeseen consequence of the massive decline in mortgage approvals



An estate planner and will writer has generated substantial business from leads supplied to him by mortgage brokers and insurers who, - keen on the introductory commission , would ask, as part of their sale, “Do you have a will?”

Lord Patel's advice is : Make a will now whilst you have some assets to bequeath - and perhaps you might keep a solicitor in business.