The latest monthly recruitment totals published by the Recruitment and Employment Confederation with KPMG show a significant slowdown in the rate of both temporary and permanent appointments in September 2011.
As concerns continue to rise about the continued economic uncertainty, particularly in the Eurozone and America, and growth remains flat this is perhaps no great surprise.
For employees facing the loss of their jobs in the public sector as well as the private sector, for new graduates and school leavers looking for their first jobs and for everyone struggling to deal with austerity measures and rising energy and food prices the statistics can only add to the pressure they are under.
The monthly survey revealed that September had seen the slowest increases in permanent placements and temporary billings since August 2009, the weakest rise in job vacancies for almost two years, that pay pressures remain muted and there had been a stronger improvement in candidate availability.
The growth of short-term staff availability was at a seven-month high and the fear is that it will not be long before job availability ceases to expand, at however slow a rate, and begins to contract.
REC chief executive Kevin Green commented that the survey results emphasised employers’ diminishing confidence in the economic future. He said this was exacerbated by weak consumer confidence, leading to people staying in their current role rather than changing jobs.
Although new jobs continue to be created in the private sector they are nowhere near the level to compensate for the loss of public sector jobs and also are affecting young job seekers disproportionately.
He called for a National Insurance holiday as a means of encouraging small and medium-sized companies to take on young people and for the Bank of England to resume quantitative easing to help kick start the economy.
Another REC survey provided a ray of optimism for those in the professional recruitment industry, however. It found that 93 per cent of clients are satisfied or very satisfied with the performance of the recruitment agencies they use and only three per cent of employers are dissatisfied.
This suggests that job seekers should not give up hope, but seek to improve the odds in their favour by using the services of a professional recruitment agency.
To get a foot in the door it is worth being open to both contract and temporary work, both of which tend to be most widely available via the agencies, and to starting off in an administrative, back office, PA or a clerical role regardless of their qualifications.
Professional specialist agencies tend to have established, long term relations with the employers who are their clients as well as the ability to provide advice and guidance to candidates on their presentation of themselves and their CVs, all of which can help job seekers in their search.
Introduction
Interest rates for savers generally follow inflation trends and statistics show that these gains are always positive unless you are very unlucky. The reason why so many people invest in Banks is because they are usually a safe bet. Indeed, often your savings will be guaranteed.
Money in a savings account is usually a safe investment but the return can sometimes be limited for the investor when compared to other options.
There are many opportunities for investment depending on the level of risk an individual is prepared to take. These forms of investment might include stocks and shares, endowment insurance policies, pensions etc. We are focusing our attention on the property market where our expertise is.
Stability of Property Values
In real terms although property markets do suffer from peaks and troughs, property does increase in value in the long term. Recently in some areas, property prices have actually gone down, this is due to the economy which has an effect on supply and demand. An over supply of property can easily reduce property prices when the property market is struggling.
Property prices do go down but history has shown that they always recover and they are stable in the long term. Steady or significant increases in property prices are usually the norm.
Whilst there can be no guarantee that property prices will increase over say, a one year period it is generally accepted that a well maintained property in a reasonable area will appreciate in value.
Interesting Statistics
The following statistics make interesting reading:
50% of individuals mentioned in The Sunday Times Rich List made their money through investing in property. A property worth just EUR10,000 some 30 years ago would be worth around half a million Euros at today’s prices. Between 5th October and 6th November 1987 the FTSE share index fell by a massive 32.1%. (Published Bank of England Statistics) It would not be fair to say that money cannot be made on the Stock Exchange and no one could dispute that. Most people take professional advice before investing in the stock market which is advisable.
Property Investment
The most successful property investors usually research the market and build up a considerable knowledge before they invest. Speculators often make huge profits by predicting changes in the property market and investing for gain, often just at the right time.
Most individuals who invest in property do so based on their own research and experience. The success rate for property investments is usually quite high which is why it is such a popular and sometimes enjoyable choice.
Building up a Portfolio
When a property which has increased in value, or if the loan has diminished, equity can be released from that property. Many buy to let investors have successfully used their borrowing ability to build a property portfolio and many have generated substantial wealth for themselves.
Buying property enables the investor to secure borrowing which can then be used to make further investments in property; this cannot be said of most conventional types of investment.
Rental Income from a property can then be used repay the loan which in time also increases the value of the investment. As property prices increase, so to does the investment and the increased equity can therefore be used to secure more funds and increase investments in property.
Many individuals have also increased their gains by investing in property located in up and coming areas or by making improvements to properties. Property improvement will always enhance property value.
Short or Long Term Property Investment
Whatever type of investor you are, property should always be a good long term investment.
If you are purchasing that place in the sun you can still benefit from the same investment opportunities but perhaps also with the advantage of an increased income from holiday letting.
Buying an off plan property can be a lucrative short term investment because Developers usually sell the opportunities at less than the market value in order to attract investors. The reason for this is that the Developer will benefit commercially by the the Investor funding the development cost.
It is not unusual for Investors to make 20 per cent profit by the time they get the keys. The Investor benefits from the enhanced inflationary value of the property during the construction period because the price is fixed before construction. Some Investors are able to sell the property on before it is even finished.
Opportunities for Investment in the Property Market
Prices are probably lower now than they have been in real terms for a couple of years so now is a good time to invest.
We have many bargain properties and off plan property investments on our website, if you need any help deciding on the best opportunities why not contact us for advice.
The world of mortgages is packed full of choice for potential homeowners today. No longer do those searching for mortgages only have the choice of one or two products. Instead, there is a wealth or products available to suit every possible want and need going! Offset mortgages provide one of those options, and they also make it easier to manage your money on a broader scale too.
An individual can choose offset mortgages when he or she holds several products with one provider. All balances of current accounts, mortgages and savings accounts are held separately but are actually offset against each other, meaning that you get an overall balance. In simple terms, because the other account balance are offset against the mortgage, it means that an individual will pay less interest because the overall balance will be less than your actual mortgage balance. Offset mortgages are therefore proving popular because they are less expensive for those with significant savings than other mortgage accounts that are held separately.
Offset mortgages are also popular because you can actually underpay once in a while if you have an emergency. The other balances may mean that you can afford to underpay without accruing charges or interest as a result. You can also take payment holidays if you so wish, or overpay. The degree of flexibility allowed by offset mortgages is far better than with some other types of mortgage that are characterised by their rigidity.
However, the majority of offset mortgages are only available on a variable rate, meaning that the rates of interest that they have are determined by the Bank of England interest rates at the time. This is great if the interest rates are low, but if they happen to be as high as they are at the moment, then this can cause financial difficulties. Payments on offset mortgages are therefore not set in stone, which may prove to be a disadvantage for some!
Try getting a mortgage deal with nice and low repayment rates and chances are you’ll come up dry as recently lenders have become increasingly choosy over who gets their money and many people have found themselves priced out of the mortgage and house buying game having to resort to renting or delaying their move out of the box room at their parent’s house.
It is almost impossible to get a decent rate on fixed term mortgages now, lenders are more suspicious with borrowers and the general consensus is to charge higher rates in order to guarantee getting as much of their investment back. There is plenty of noise over the subject of fixed mortgages because lenders do not seem to be reacting to the Bank of England’s swap rate for banks reaching a threshold recently. Despite this many lenders like Halifax and Nat West have continued to increase rates for fixed term mortgages of 2, 3 and 5 years.
So what’s the alternative? Well tracker mortgages are becoming more popular as they follow the Bank of England’s base rate which recently dropped to an all time low of 5%. Normally tracker mortgages work out as being cheaper than fixed mortgages for the first two or three years but then rise to a more expensive rate once the period is over.
The life line in this story seems to be lifetime trackers. Lifetime tracker mortgages will follow the base rate to an extent for the entire length of the mortgage. Analysts say that by doing this you stand to save thousands of pounds by not only undercutting the fixed rate mortgages but also by not having to pay the fees and charges associated with a Remortgage ever again!
Some lenders are even trying to entice some struggling home buyers with low rates (some at 5.89% currently in July) but even better: No upfront fees or early repayment charges. The benefits of this lack of fees are further boosted by the safe knowledge that your tracker mortgage is not going to fall victim to arbitrary price hikes should something major occur in the industry.
For now mortgages remain elusive and awkward to get with attractive rates, but as this news proves, some lenders are recognizing the desperation in the housing market and aim to provide some form of savings to the house buyers.
If you want a stock market education, follow the people who predicted the credit crunch. Believe it or not, there were a lot of people who saw the problems build and tried to bring attention to it. The problem was that no one in authority would listen. They waved all comers away with standard “It’s fine” rhetoric. How can we have in the UK a tripartite financial regulator and not see an issue as huge as this before it surfaces? No doubt, there will be many people who will pay for the oversight once everything settles down and the blame game and the lawsuits start in earnest.
Let’s start at the very top. The Chancellor of the Exchequer (he could use a stock market education) for the period leading up to the credit crisis – please take a bow Mr Gordon Brown. He labelled his own time as the chancellor as “the age of irresponsibility”. How those words must be haunting him now. Not only did he not oversee the banking system effectively, as the huge credit binge got underway, but neither did the FSA, his flagship regulator, or the Bank of England, who he stripped of many powers as soon as he got into Number 11.
They literally sat there are the housing bubble grew to sizes that were both unprecedented and unsustainable. They oversaw explosive growth which led to record levels of personal debt. They stood by as the banking system went on a derivatives binge that would is bringing it to its knees…and yet they said nothing. Why?
There is no answer to this, but you could argue that there was coordinated ignorance or wilful participation. Only months before the crisis began, the powers that be told us that the economy was in great shape and GDP growth was expected to continue clipping along at a decent pace. How could the people who led us in our economic destiny get something so fundamental so wrong?
The answer is simple. Either they are all incompetent to the extent that they should all be fired and personally immediately for negligence, or they are all lying to us. Either way…they have to go or get a stock market education.