Financial News

• Brown dismisses housing crisis fears (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Mortgage hope offered by bank (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Consumer morale 'falls again' (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Bristol & West withdraws deals (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Retirees feel 'unhappy due to no longer working' (09 04 2008 10:15)
• Severn Trent to be fined £36m (08 04 2008 04:15)
• Brown to announce first time buyers help (08 04 2008 04:15)
• UK bank details 'for sale by thieves' (08 04 2008 04:15)
• Last 100% mortgage to disappear (08 04 2008 04:15)
• High earners 'shut out of market' (08 04 2008 04:15)

Subscribe!

Brown dismisses housing crisis fears

The prime minister moved yesterday to assuage fears of a nationwide property crash - which would leave millions facing difficulty with loans repayments.

Speaking to the BBC, Gordon Brown claimed that the current threat to the sector was "containable" and that a return to the mass repossessions of the early 1990s was not likely.

The comments came in the wake of new housing figures from loans lender Halifax, which showed that UK property prices fell by 2.5 per cent last month - a much bigger drop than anticipated.

"If you look back 15 years, we had 15 per cent interest rates, ten per cent inflation, rapidly rising unemployment, public spending having to be cut, taxes having to rise dramatically," Mr Brown said.

"If you look at this situation, because we've got low inflation we can cut interest rates, because we've had low debt we can afford to keep our public spending programme in line and to borrow at the right time to help the economy come through difficult times."

The Halifax figures also showed that annual house price inflation stands at just over one per cent - with the average home costing £191,500.

Send this article to: