The credit crunch is hitting many homeowners both here and in the United States. Many have called for the government here in the United Kingdom to provide some sort of relief directly to homeowners rather than ploughing money into the banks.
As many fear that their home will be repossessed and housing charities such as Shelter warn that they could be seeing an increase in homelessness among the middle classes and young families, some kind of solution is desperately needed.
So far the government has poured over £50 billion into the banking market, hoping that some of that will trickle down to consumers. Unfortunately many homeowners are at a high risk now and cannot await the trickle down effect which the government is hoping for.
Many banks are not even offering the better rates which the monetary input should have enabled them to offer to their customers, meaning that the government money is doing little to help the average person affected by the credit crunch.
However there is hope on the horizon as the United States announces that they are devising a government supported scheme to lend to homeowners at low rates.
The loans will offer borrowers struggling to manage their debts, who would usually find it hard to secure credit, especially at good rates, the opportunity to pay off expensive debts and borrow against their home from the government at a better rate.
The Federal Deposit Corp (FDIC) is proposing to allow the Treasury department to lend homeowner loans to almost 1 million Americans. The proposed loans would let borrowers pay off up to 20% owing on their mortgages.
Borrowers would then not be required to make any repayments in the government issued loans for the next five years. The FDIC is estimated to require around $50 (£25 billion) billion in order to offer the proposed loans.
If this proposal goes through in the United States it could mean that a similar initiative may be attempted here by the British government. The United States was the first country hit by the credit crunch, the effects of which then hit us here in the United Kingdom and are now beginning to affect many European countries as well.
Despite the many differences between our two countries, it has become evident that our economies are closely linked and any plan which provides relief and is successful in the United States is likely to be adopted here.
Especially as fears of homelessness have been voiced, the government will be keen to avoid a situation where the demand on the council housing system becomes even greater than it is already.
If the homeowner loans plan is approved and executed in the United States, experts are agreed that a similar thing will happen here. Indeed many are suggesting that it is necessary for the government to step in now, regardless of the success and popularity of the proposals in the United States.
