Economic Outlook in Great Britain Very Grim - Companies going out of business, jobs vanishing, home prices collapsing

600,000 jobs could go in 2009 - 3 million unemployed by end of year

Mon Dec 29, 2008 By Kate KellandLONDON (Reuters) - As many as 600,000 people could lose their jobs in Britain next year, making 2009 the worst year for unemployment since 1991, personnel experts warned on Monday.The Chartered Institute of Personnel and Development (CIPD) said a widely-expected recession would bite hard in Britain next year and could push unemployment close to the three million mark before the economy begins to recover."By the end of 2009 the number of people unemployed and actively seeking work will have increased to 2.8 million, one million above the autumn 2008 figure," John Philpott, the CIPD's chief economist, said in its annual Barometer Report.[...]

Traders predict house prices will fall by 50% in four years

Phillip Inman The GuardianMonday 9 June 2008 The slide in house prices will continue for at least three years and crush the value of a home by almost 50% in real terms, according to a key index of property price futures. Indications from futures trading on long term property prices shows that the average UK home will recover its current value only in 2017.By the end of this year prices will be down by 10% and by a further 10.5% in 2009, according to the index. Prices will keep dropping through 2010 and cut values by 23.5% when they hit rock bottom in 2011. House prices will then begin a slow climb back to current market values over a period of about six years.If an average retail price inflation rate of 4% is included in the calculation and in addition the 8% drop in prices over the last eight months already registered by the Halifax index, the fall in values over almost four years will reach 47.5% in real terms.[...]

Half of middle class home owners fear their properties could be repossessed next year

Nearly half of middle-class home owners fear that they could lose their properties next year because they are struggling to pay their mortgages, research shows. By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor 30 Dec 2008The news comes after the Council for Mortgage Lenders forecast that the number of repossessions is likely nearly to double to 75,000 next year.A YouGov poll, carried out for a new report from Tory MP Grant Shapps, found that 44 per cent of mortgage holders are worried that lenders could force them out of their properties next year.A similar proportion were worried about not being able to meet mortgage payments between now and the end of 2010.The study - The New Homeless - found that the concern among homeowners about losing the roof over their heads in the economic downturn stretched across society.It found that 42 per cent of middle class professionals were worried about not paying the mortgage over the next year, compared with 46 per cent of blue collar households.[...]

Depression among the young at alarming level - Young people expected to bear the brunt of job losses over the coming year

Mary O'Hara The Guardian Monday 5 January 2009 A significant number of young people are depressed or struggling to cope and the situation is likely to worsen as recession takes hold, according to a report by the Prince's Trust. One in 10 16- to 25-year-olds polled by the charity for its Youth Index study said they felt that life was meaningless, and more than a quarter (27%) said they were always or often down or depressed. Almost half of all those surveyed (47%) said they were regularly stressed.The trust, which interviewed more than 2,000 young people across Britain, said the results were "alarming". Young people not in work, training or education were worst affected, the research found. Some 37% of those outside paid employment or education admitted to being frequently down or depressed, while 27% said their lives had no purpose. With young people expected to bear the brunt of job losses over the coming year, the findings are likely to raise concerns among policymakers.[...]

Welcome to 2009. Heads we lose, tails we're all doomed

07th January 2009Richard Littlejohn[...]Mind you, it's not surprising that most people enter 2009 with a sense of foreboding. Unemployment is heading for three million and Gordon Brown's brilliant plan for saving the world at our expense has fallen flat on its face. The banks still won't lend, even to each other, and home repossessions are expected to set a new record. Even if you are fortunate enough to hold on to your house, you won't be able to sell it - which is just as well since it will be worth about 50 per cent less than you paid for it. That won't stop the Government charging you ever higher taxes for the privilege of living in it. Over the Christmas holidays, it was confirmed that those of us lucky to live in a pleasant area, with a nice view and a low crime rate, are to be punished through big increases in council tax. [...]Over 'ere son, on me 'ead! And don't imagine you're going to make ends meet by selling your car, either, even though you probably can't afford to run it any more. The bottom has fallen out of the used-car market, thanks to the Government's excise duty hikes. Parking penalties, petrol taxes and speeding fines are going up, too. The only reason Labour doesn't make driving illegal altogether is because it needs all the money raised through motoring taxes to bail out Jaguar and Land Rover, which are going down the gurgler because of, you guessed, sky-high petrol prices and punitive taxes on 'gas guzzlers'. What was that about 'joined-up' government? Yet despite all this - and saddling future generations with a trillion pounds of debt - Gordon has just embarked on a tour of the country, boasting about what a genius he is. Nurse! Meanwhile, forget drowning your sorrows. Plans by a pub chain to lower the price of a pint to 99p have been condemned by 'alcohol awareness' campaigners, who are demanding the Government takes immediate action to stop it. Yesterday may have been the most stressful day of the year - so far. But, believe me, there's worse to come. It's being so cheerful as keeps me going.[...]