You asked us.........

"I believe that your work is typically debt related, are all of your clients in the finance sector?"

Most of our work is indeed from the finance sector (and the associated legal providers to that industry) but we have a broad range of clients both in finance and outside of it. Because we offer a range of investigative services we are used by a number of clients across a range of industries. Without being specific, examples of our client base would be:

• Banks, Building Societies, Finance Houses
• Solicitors - Litigation, Debt Recovery, Family, Employment
• Insolvency Practitioners, Accountants
• Local Authorities
• Fee paying schools, Universities
• Housing Associations 
• Government Agencies
• Insurance Companies
• SME's as well as Large Corporates
• Breweries
• Credit Unions

To name but a few! 

June 2012

Despite the awful weather, what a wonderful weekend it was in celebration of the Queen's Diamond Jubilee. The pomp and pageantry of these occasions is what we do best and surely no other country in the world can put on such a show, truly inspirational!

In the markets it is pleasing to see that gross mortgage lending by building societies and other mutual lenders rose 23% in April 2012 compared to the same month last year. In the first four months of 2012 lending rose 36% compared to the same period in 2011. Net lending by mutuals was positive for a seventh consecutive month.

Mortgage approvals by mutuals were up 50% in April compared to the same month last year, and were 20% higher than the average over the previous six months. Showing a very healthy pipeline, approvals were up 43% in the first four months of the year compared to the same period in 2011.

You asked us

"The latest UK Debt figures have been released this month. They don't make for pleasant reading. Any thoughts?"

The figures do indeed give reason for concern with a number of startling statistics. There is obviously nothing we at London House can do to influence them, but the information can help when it comes to considering the way ahead. The industry can use them when lobbying or for just raising awareness. I am a firm believer that personal finance should be taught at school, in depth, and the younger generations made aware of the consequences of poor financial control. Alas, the current parlous financial state of many individuals means that there will always be plenty of work for London House and its clients.

If you have not seen the figures, here are some highlights:

Total UK personal debt at the end of July 2011 stood at £1,451bn. Individuals currently owe nearly as much as the entire country produced between Q2 2010 and Q1 2011.

UK banks and building societies wrote off £8.0bn of loans to individuals in the 4 quarters to end Q2 2011. In Q2 2011 they wrote off £2.06bn (£1.15bn of that was credit card debt). This amounts to a write-off of £22.54m a day.

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £8,055 (excluding mortgages). This figure increases to £15,491 if the average is based on the number of households who actually have some form of unsecured loan.

Average household debt in the UK is ~ £55,814 (including mortgages).

Today in the UK

• 334 people every day of the year will be declared insolvent or bankrupt. This is equivalent to 1 person every 59 seconds during a working day.  
• 1,391 Consumer County Court Judgments (CCJs) were issued every day during Q2 2011 and the average judgment amount was £3,345.
• Citizen Advice Bureaux dealt with 9,072 new debt problems every working day in England and Wales during the year ending March 2011.
• The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 21 is £27.50 a day.
• 99 properties were repossessed every day during Q2 2011.
• 112 new people became unemployed for more than 12 months every day during the 12 months to end June 2011.
• 1,688 people reported they had become redundant every day during 3 months to end June 2011

197 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 154 mortgage possession orders will be made today.