General Chat

I don't know what I was watching the other night but somebody estimated that there are an incredible eight million people in the UK who are so deeply in debt that they will never repay in full.

This prompted me to find out what the estimated population of the UK is and I was quite amazed to know that it is something close to sixty-six and a half million.

Whatever must this level of hopeless debt do to our economy?

We owe nobody nothing
Even the house is all paid for

We have always lived like that
If we cant afford it we do without till we can :-D :-D

Many don't own their home, they rent it or have a mortgage they cannot keep up with.
People run a car they are buying on installments (HP) they have to tax and insure it and keep it road worthy. Collective expense of the car often more than the individual can afford. Then there's food, clothing, Central heating costs and so on.
Birthdays and Christmas having to sometimes buy the best (?) which quickly goes out of fashion. It just takes redundancy to cause financial crises, maybe marital breakdown

Things can be chugging along nicely and then suddenly a company goes bust and you are out of a job! The best laid plans can go awry, and many people have no safety net.

Lizx

But that much money that is never going to be paid back in full must have an enormously detrimental effect on the economy.

It is money that cannot be used for any useful purpose.

Some unfortunately are only paying the interest on their mortgage. If their circumstances are such that they fall in arrears with this arrangement the Bank or BS is within its rights to evict the occupant and sell the house in auction to recover its losses. Sad for all.

I really feel for the young people just starting out :-(

The homeless population has doubled in the past 8 years.

The figures indicate that some eight per cent of the population owes money that will never be repaid and when you consider that a considerable part of the population is children and so not in a position to owe anything the percentage of debtors os pretty terrifying.

It is pretty scary.
However, when you realise that long - standing Council house tenants are essentially being fined for not buying their houses, in the form of 'bedroom tax', when unemployed, for having 'too many bedrooms' - like it's their fault there is no other suitable housing, or that councils were banned from building further council accommodation, you can see how these things occur.

Many student loans aren't repaid. I saw an article in The Independent some time ago stating nearly three quarters of all student loans aren't repaid. The debt for thousands of pounds will be against each student for thirty years then written off. Take that out of the debt equation and the result could be significant.

Remember we mainly come from a generation that had free university education. Try starting life after uni with a huge debt and wanting to get a mortgage and a car to get to a job because of the state of public transport. I know one woman who took on an extra job in the evening so her 4 children, who all went to uni, had no debt when they finished. Every penny she earned went to them to pay for everything. It took 12 years of 2 jobs to do it. She retired early once they'd finished.

Both my children got qualifications at college. Son full time from age 16 - 20 living at home and working weekends. Daughter's was day release from work for 4 years. Daughter now earning far more than any of her friends, even those who went to uni. She's a civil engineer.

After some blips on the work front when he was younger, my son is now doing very well in an office job with the local city council, working his way up by taking many courses as well, I hope he will be secure for a very long time. His fiancée, who couldn't work as she was carer for her son with diabetes, is now working for the local county council, on a temp contract for now, but hopefully will be permanent soon. Her son will be going to senior school next year and can pretty much manage his diabetes himself with a bit of supervision in the mornings and evenings so her time is less restricted. They are currently applying to buy their flat from the council, as they have been tenants for some time now, so they will hopefully be on the property ladder soon, paying out less on a mortgage than their current rent. A baby will eventually be the icing on the cake but meantime they are counting their blessings after some difficult years. It's a shame more youngsters aren't as lucky, life is such a struggle for so many.

Lizx