June was a great month, but was it a fluke?

AToM can report a bumper month for new business in June. Our best month for mortgage applications and completions for over a year! Fantastic news which shows that, even in a dire market, consumers are turning to independent mortgage advisers for assistance for advice and support. Now, more than ever, independent advice is key. There are many mortgage options available, but finding the right one to suit your requirements can be difficult, especially as some lenders only offer their special mortgage products through a select panel of distributors, like AToM.

Despite such positive news, market conditions, and national debt statistics for June, from creditaction, do not paint a pretty picture. In brief:

- 107 properties were repossessed daily during Q1, 2010
- 203 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 158 mortgage possession orders will be made today
- 391 people are declared insolvent or bankrupt every day. Equivalent to 1 person every 51 seconds during the working day.
- 1,000 people seek some form of formal debt rescheduling every working day.
- 1,896 people were made redundant every day during the 3 months to end April 2010.
- £131.5m is the interest the Government pays each day on the UK’s net debt of £903bn. Estimated to rise to £182m a day in 2015-16!
- Shelter estimate that more than one million householders have used credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the last 12 months and moneysupermarket.com advises that almost 5m UK adults regularly use their credit card to pay household bills. Another 2.5m withdraw money using their cards!

Scary figures! The recent emergency budget is trying to tackle the scale of some of these and only time will tell if it succeeds.

In the meantime, remember that financial institutions evaluate your mortgage application based on your credit history. In fact, insurance companies will also credit search you before agreeing to cover you. Most will use either Experian or Equifax to review your financial status. In short, every financial outlay you have, or have had, will be reported. If you have too much credit, not enough credit, or missed payments on any credit or utilities (including Gas bills or Mobile phones), you may find that mortgage availability to you will be limited.