RBS offer 6 month mortgage holiday

[Puggit]

...via government intervention.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7757840.stm

So now you can fall 6 months in arrears before RBS start the repossession process. Time to move mortgage provider if you are concerned about your job!

[hornetrider]

BBC said:

The announcement will put pressure on the biggest mortgage lender, HBOS, which has also taken taxpayer cash.

Cool. Maybe I'll fakey some hardship and put the money into a 993 Targa....

[fido]

and you wonder why HSBC, Standard Chartered, Barclays didn't want government money?

[deckster]

But how is this different from the norm anyway? I've never been in this situation, but as I understand it banks are never terribly keen on repossessing anyway and allowing six months before taking action isn't massively unusual I believe.

In any case I suspect this might be a bigger reason:

Chappy from EDS said:

At a time when house prices are falling, banks don't really want to do repossessions because all they end up with is no money coming in from the mortgage loan and they end up with a stock of houses, which they probably can't sell

What's better - to end up with of load of houses they can't give away, or to wait a few months for people to get themselves back on their feet again?

[Adrian W]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I dissagree, This and a buy British campaign are the best things to do, give people the confidence to spend, without the spectre of, if things go tits up they loose the house in two months. Now all we need to do is stop all of the cash going to China, I agree as usual some people will take the piss.

[deckster]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

What's better - to take somebody's house off them now because they haven't been able to find work for three months, or to wait another six months by which time they'll probably have got another job and will be able to pay the mortgage again?

PS If you're paying £10k interest in 6 months on a £100k mortgage I'd shop around a bit

[smack]

If the economy as a whole improves in 6 months time, and these people in trouble get hired/pay rises etc., RBS will get off the hook.
But as Tonker mentions above, it will make the situation worse for RBS, writing off more money come summer. They will try and recover from customers (fees/higher rates to debtors/silly high credit card APRs/lower rates to savers), and from the government.

Public news this morning, another bank in trouble, London Scottish Bank:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7758117.stm

[NoelWatson]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

But surely they will have been spending the last six months looking for work while eating into their savings, and it is only as a last resort that they have fallen into arrears. If they haven't found a job over those last six months, what are the chances of finding one in the next? If you look at the unenemployment numbers, they are rocketing. RBS would not being doing this had they not been bailed by the Government.

[Adrian W]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

You have to accept that if someone loses their job and it's no fault of their own, it will come as a suprise, This is why people are not spending. now we are talking about honest hard working people, as I said some people will take the piss, but they would have anyway.

Oh, if I give you a list could you? three weeks to go and i still haven't summond up the courage to go.

[Zod]

A "Buy British" campaign? What next - "Price Check" warning triangles in shops? It really is the 1970s again.

[Dracoro]

I assume a 6 month "holiday" is nothing of the sort, rather just extending the mortgage term by 6 months?

[Percy Flage]

One of the key reasons why this "holiday" has happened is because the banks simply do not have the staff to carry out the work required on repos. The staff are already tied up with all the repos they can handle.

Other banks are in the same boat, they just haven't gone public on it.

[BigBen]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Since it takes longer than 2 months then surely the RBS 'holiday' is just a clever bit of publicity and will not in fact change the situation from the norm anyway. I am sure that during said holiday they will not stop chasing up their money, as they should.

[Adrian W]

Zod said:

A "Buy British" campaign? What next - "Price Check" warning triangles in shops? It really is the 1970s again.

If you worked in manufacturing maybe you wouldn't be saying that.

[Horse_Apple]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm struggling with the idea that GB thinks that in 6 months someone in arrears today will have more money?

I honestly think that he has lost his marbles. Writing letters to children, claiming to save the world, handing out vast amounts of money to all and sundry.

Isn't this exactly what Michael Jackson was doing before Jarvis Cocker showed him his arse?

Where is the politcal version of Jarvis when you desperately need them?

[Horse_Apple]

Adrian W said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I dissagree, This and a buy British campaign are the best things to do, give people the confidence to spend, without the spectre of, if things go tits up they loose the house in two months. Now all we need to do is stop all of the cash going to China, I agree as usual some people will take the piss.

People ar in arrears becasue they have spent too much. Encouraging them to spend even more by giving them debt holiday is complete madness.

Our PM is insane.

The only possible solution is to push this down as quickly as possible to clear everything toxic out of the system and then start again with a clean sheet. By holding on to the toxic problems and then encouraging them to get worse the man is showing that he has lost in big time and we are all 100% fked.

[smack]

Zod said:

A "Buy British" campaign? What next - "Price Check" warning triangles in shops? It really is the 1970s again.

If there is one positive, it may be that the public realise that to buy British will benefit them in the long run. Over a decade of a strong pound, and a taste of the exotic has resulted in people turning their back on local product, contributing to leaving the country in the state it is in.
Food the perfect example: New Zealand butter, Irish meat, Canadian cheddar cheese. End result, a lot farmers shutting up shop for years due to supermarkets driving down prices, and the British public buying the imported product. Now all those imports which where not much cheaper anyhow, have been hit with a deflated pound. I notice that Sainsbury's are now selling "British Creme fraiche", and only their SO Organic line is French made. So it is already started.
The demand may be building up, but the horse has already bolted, and it is a bit late to chase after it.

[Puggit]

Sorry, but Canadian Cheddar is the best

[Scrotum]

Horse_Apple said:

anonymous said:

[redacted]

I'm struggling with the idea that GB thinks that in 6 months someone in arrears today will have more money?

I honestly think that he has lost his marbles. Writing letters to children, claiming to save the world, handing out vast amounts of money to all and sundry.

Isn't this exactly what Michael Jackson was doing before Jarvis Cocker showed him his arse?

Where is the politcal version of Jarvis when you desperately need them?

You will enjoy our superheros latest bid of saving the world

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/business/7751714.stm

[Adrian W]

anonymous said:

[redacted]

Err no, I fit about 2 million electronic components a day, despite the EU, H&S and the banks, it is a misconception that UK manufacturers are not competitive, the UK government offer no help whereas it seems all other governments do, especially France and Germany and comments like that really don’t help