THE BANKS ARE LAUGHING ALL THE WAY TO THE BANK (OF ENGLAND FOR AT LEAST £50 BILLION)

It has been two weeks since the Bank of England announced that it would swap dodgy mortgages for top quality Treasury bills. A few days later the banks said they would help people stay in their homes during this difficult period.

So what is this? Repossessions set to soar and continue to rise even during next year!

The banks have had three rate cuts (and will probably get more) but have not passed them on.

They've also had £50 billion in top quality Treasury bills (and will probably get more).

This government and parliament have totally lost the plot.

Who do they work for?

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From http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/repossessions-set-to-soar-to-highest-level-for-17-years-821693.html

Repossessions set to soar to highest level for 17 years

By Sean O'Grady, Economics Editor
Tuesday, 6 May 2008

The number of properties being repossessed has soared as the effects of the credit crunch push court orders from banks and building societies to record highs, figures will show this week.

The tally of 95,374 repossession orders during 2007 was the highest since the housing crash of the early 1990s – when they peaked at 142,905 in 1991. In the last three months of 2007, the number of home repossession orders climbed by 6.3 per cent to 25,008.

However, that figure did not fully reflect the housing downturn and the credit crisis, which became more acute in March. On Friday, the Ministry of Justice will reveal the repossession figures for the first three months of 2008. The shortage of mortgage finance, particularly for the 1.4 million homeowners needing to renegotiate fixed-rate deals this year, and the general economic slowdown will almost certainly push even higher the number of families losing their homes.

The Bank of England said last week: "Many high-risk borrowers may find they are unable to re-finance expiring fixed-rate mortgage deals and will instead move on to the standard variable rate. This will result in a jump in their average effective mortgage rate of about 2.5 percentage points." However, many borrowers will not be able to afford their new commitments.

While the number of actual repossessions remains low and well below the number of repossession orders, because financial institutions and householders usually find ways through debt problems, the two nonetheless generally follow the same trend. More than 22,700 properties were repossessed in 2007, some way off the high of 75,540 seen in 1991, but three times their nadir in 2005. A large number of repossession orders now could mean a jump in repossessions later this year and in 2009.