Bankruptcies in the borough up by 500% since 2000
Local MP, Greg Hands, has this week expressed his shock at figures which reveal that the number of individual bankruptcies each year in Hammersmith and Fulham has risen by an 500% since the year 2000.
In an answer to a Parliamentary Question, the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform stated that just 30 people in the borough filed for insolvency in 2000, but this rose in the following seven years to 155 bankruptcies in 2007. Figures showing rising bankruptcies have been dismissed by some commentators who say they mainly reflect an increased level of business formation and economic activity.
In April, Mr Hands revealed that 13,942 homes across London were hit with repossession orders last year, with 226 orders being issued by West London County Court. The Bank of England has also warned that banks and building societies are planning to cut back their lending further in coming months.
Total personal debt in the UK has reached a record £1.4 billion, equivalent to an average debt per household of over £50,000. The UK’s Personal Debt to Income Ratio has tripled, from below 50 per cent in the 1970s to over 140 per cent in 2007 and British consumers are on average twice as indebted as those in Continental Europe.
The Conservatives have already announced a series of practical proposals which aim to help stop people getting in over their head and suffering financial distress. Mr. Hands is personally spearheading some of the effort, being a trustee of Debt Doctors UK, and strongly supporting the H&F Credit Union. The policies include financial education in schools for young people between 11 and 18 and cracking down on illegal loan sharks. There will be a cooling off period for store cards to tackle ‘high pressure’ sales and clearer information for credit card users on the costs involved.
Greg said, “These figures bring more worrying evidence that under Gordon Brown, our economy is built on debt. Labour’s record is one of economic incompetence. Behind every insolvency there is a personal tragedy and taken together they add to a growing social problem. Despite all of this, Labour are so out of touch with the lives of hard working families that they have continued to kick them whilst they are down. This year’s Budget adds £110 a year to the average family’s tax bill and means that the tax take will be £2.8 billion a year higher by 2010.
July 25, 2008