The May Fundamentals report produced by Legal and General suggests that the economic outlook for the UK is a negative one.
There are some positive factors said the Legal and General, such as low unemployment, the weaker pond helping exports and the fact that consumer spending is still active. However they see more negative elements than positive ones which leads them to rating the economic forecast as poor.
Key pointers include the much more difficult lending conditions facing borrowers, higher levels of debt and also a rate of inflation that is rising much too quickly. All in all the Legal and General view is that, unless changes are seen in this factors the UK economy could face real difficulties.
The first six months of the year has seen Northern Rock record a loss of GBP585 million, primarily through their customers being unable to meet the payments on their mortgage.
The figures provided by Northern Rock show 1.18 percent of customers are regularly missing mortgage payments, which is an increase of 300 percent compared with 12 months ago. The upshot of missed payments is arrears, with the number of people now in this state also up by around 300 percent.
The worry for everyone looking at the housing situation, not just Northern Rock, is that these arrears can turn into repossessions, especially where negative equity becomes a problem, such a situation will be affecting many homeowners who bought their house within the last two years.
The Halifax has reported that the amount of pocket money given to children has fallen compared with last year. In 2007 the weekly amount was just over GBP8, though this has fallen to a little over GBP6 this year.
Parents will no doubt be feeling the pinch said a Halifax spokesperson, though in their defence they do still buy items such as mobile phones and ipods for their children. The best place for children to be is London, where the average pocket money is GBP8.47, followed by Scotland where they receive GBP8.20.
The lowest paying parents are found in the East Midlands, where GBP4.46 is the norm, closely followed by the south west of England where children receive an average of GBP4.58 according to the Halifax figures.
