With home loans in the UK becoming more and more scarce and difficult to get, it is easy to see that there is a tremendous level of difficulty in obtaining these types of home loans for those who have shaky credit or a slipshod work history. Naturally, the government is doing everything that they can to provide home loans for everyone and bailing out those companies who have verified and backed up home loans in the past. Without this effort, the recession would very likely continue to run rampant.

“The negative sentiment towards the housing market suggests that even those people who can obtain and afford a mortgage may choose to steer clear of the housing market until house prices appear to have reached a floor,” said Seema Shah, property analyst at Capital Economics.

David Dooks, statistics director at the BBA, said: “The monthly numbers of approvals for house purchase, which have fallen by some two-thirds over the last year, levelled off in July. It would, however, be premature to think that the housing market will now start to recover, because overall approval activity continues to be very low.”

But an Energywatch spokes-man, Adam Scorer, said: “Companies raising prices at the same time and by very similar amounts is what prompted the regulator Ofgem to launch its probe into the energy industry. The impact on every consumer is going to be harsh. But British Gas, E.ON and Scottish & Southern have not raised their online tariffs.”

Tim Wolfenden, of uSwitch.com, said: “Soaring energy bills pose a huge threat to our standard of living: gas and electricity are essential commodities which have now become a luxury many can no longer afford.”

Jeremy Law, products chief for Bradford & Bingley-owned provider Mortgage Express  stated, “The lack of liquidity in the market has been a key driver to the reduced number of mortgage products and the changing criteria. The increase in prices has been driven by the significant increase in cost of funds. So the market should still return once the liquidity returns, however, there is no specific date for that. The only guarantee when it begins to come back, next year and beyond, is that it will be a gradual recovery not an instant one.”

Andrew Strange, policy director for the Association of Mortgage Intermediaries, said: “Although the number of products available on the market has dropped, there are still a large number of mortgages to choose from.

“During difficult periods in the market, consumers need advice more than ever and the risk of making the wrong decision is wide reaching.”

“The credit crunch has prompted a flight to safety by borrowers stung by dramatic rises in rates on short-term deals,” said MoneyExpert’s Sean Gardner. “Long-term fixed-rate mortgages, with competitive rates of interest, in some circumstances may be worth considering. However, early redemption charges tend to be more substantial than on shorter fixed terms A rate of 6.5% could prove a worthwhile long-term strategy if you don’t mind accepting that at some point you’re likely to be paying over the odds. Interest rates will eventually go down.”

Ray Boulger of John Charcol added, “It is a vote of confidence in the property and mortgage market. With bank rate likely to be falling again by early next year and additional mortgage funding coming into the market from private equity investment, there are good grounds for thinking house prices will bottom out in the first half of next year.”

John Stewart, director of economic affairs for the Home Builders Federation, said: “If the Treasury does not take up any recommendations from Crosby until the pre-budget report in October or November, this will unduly prolong the frustration of those, particularly first-time buyers, who are currently having difficulty obtaining mortgages to buy their own home.

“The benefits of action will not be realised until spring 2009 at the earliest - seven or eight months from now. This is too big a price to pay as in the meantime steeply falling housing transactions, weakening house prices and sharply lower housebuilding activity risk damaging Britain’s wider economy.”

“Contrary to the first glance interpretations of the Bank of England’s statistics published this week, we believe that the bespoke Equity Release market is relatively well positioned compared with the mainstream mortgage market.” said Andrea Rozario, director general of SHIP.

“Longer term the outlook is positive as a the result of the fundamental drivers of Equity Release demand being very strong - including the UK’s ageing population, declining pension contributions and significant personal wealth being held in equity in property.

These factors, she says, when combined with the current conditions in the mainstream mortgage market which will force the lending industry to seek alternative sources of business, “makes us confident the Equity Release market is well positioned for the future”.

Ray Boulger, senior technical manager at John Charcol, said: “Many borrowers will be coming off five-year fixed rates of less than 4% in the next few months, and many others will be coming to the end of two or three-year fixed or tracker mortgages with rates well under 5%.

“Switching to a new large loan fixed rate without paying a big fee will mean paying a rate close to 7%. Even switching to a new tracker without paying a big fee will mean paying well over 6%.

“These two deals are designed to accommodate borrowers who can not easily afford to pay, or can but don’t want to pay, the much higher rates which would be necessary without a big fee being used to subsidise the rate.”

Darren Cook of MoneyFacts stated, “The average SVR today stands at 7.02%. With most lenders not charging a product fee for moving onto their SVR, this is becoming a more viable option for many at the moment. As the rates on offer increase, so does the relative risk. More and more borrowers are likely to find the increased repayment too much to bear.

“These are continuingly worrying times for anyone coming to the end of their current mortgage deal. However, it seems not all is lost as there could be some light at the end of the tunnel for borrowers. Today, swap rates have decreased from its 6.52% high last week, by 0.16% to 6.36%. We hope that this recent downturn is not short lived and trust that lenders will play a fair game by reflecting this decrease in the rates that they will have on offer in the next few weeks.”

“One hundred-percent financing has all but gone away,” said Jon Higginbotham, certified mortgage planning specialist for Countrywide Home Loans. “They have also raised credit score requirements and documentation requirements. There are appraisal issues, as well. There is more inventory and less sales to compare current sales to.”

“Sales 101 tells you it’s all about supply and demand,” Higginbotham added. “We have much more supply than we have demand. The sooner we get more aggressive about pricing, the sooner the market will correct itself.”