The state of the economy has been the main subject of viewer opinion over the last couple of days.

You've been sending in lots of comments on house prices, inflation and unemployment.

As a political and parliamentary correspondent throughout the 1990s, I well remember John Major's comment (as Chancellor) that "if it isn't hurting, it isn't working" and his successor Norman Lamont saying unemployment was "a price worth paying for lower inflation".

There's no doubt many you feel that inflation is higher than the official statistics say. This is because of your own experience of the weekly food shop or filling up your vehicle.

The economy looks set to be a dominant theme of our news coverage for some time to come - please keep sending in your stories of how you are coping in your household.

Paul

Comments

[stan, spain 10 Jun 2008 19:17:16]

hi spain is grinding to a halt feul has run out at many stations super market are running out of food there are no fresh food and meat is no longer on the shelfs. but we still have the sun oh and the taxi driver are on strike. airports are all so reporting low fuel so no flights soon. best regards.

[John Sullivan, Edgware 10 Jun 2008 09:32:19]

Having lived through the last housing crisis and lost my home along with hundreds of thousands of others.

Is it not time the media attempted to calm the nerves of the nation, by showing the comparisons between the massive house price crash then, that resulted in mass negative equity. In comparison to the moderate house price falls we are experiencing today, that whilst considerable pale into insignificance when compared with the previous house price crash.A reduction in house prices was also being called for by the media just a few months ago, when the complaint was house price escalation was getting out of control.

I challenge Sky News to break the mould along with the habit of a lifetime and get the current economic crisis into perspective. I know from bitter experience, what we are suffering now pails into insignificance when compared to the previous house price crashes brought about by a world economic downturn. We also currently have a government looking at ways to help mortgage payers, whereas in the past the government of the day stood by and offered no help to mortgage payers whatsoever.

[Clive.Cumbria 8 Jun 2008 19:06:08]

I am not an expert,but I have noted that in South Africa they have plants that convert Coal into vehicle fuel,China is also looking into this technology...the UK is built on coal,it would put thousands back into work and solve our fuel crisis...why cant we do it.

[Graham - Manchester 8 Jun 2008 09:20:35]

If it's the business of mortgage lenders and banks to lend people money to buy houses, why have they stopped doing so ? So they are scared they may not get paid back. Tough ! We are all scared of one thing or another. They are on a self-made downward spiral for their business. They are making it worse for themselves.

As for the price of food, petrol etc, this is being blamed on the price of oil. We are producing as much oil now as we have ever done ( worldwide ) so where is the shortage? This is just a money making excercise on behalf of the oil producers. With great benefit to our Government of course.

[Sarah, Liverpool 1 Jun 2008 17:47:01]

Having both been UK taxpayers since leaving school, holding down full time jobs not claiming a penny from the state, recycling as much as we can, owning our own home (only just), and using the car as little as possible, we are now in a position where we are unable to start a family due to the price of living rising so rapidly.

Supermarkets are raising the price of food by up to 40%, and the cost of petrol is almost crippling. Maybe it's about time us hard working people emigrated to a country who appreciate the effort you put in to recycling etc by rewarding you with a reduction in council tax or a cash alternative and basically don't rip you off with staple purchases such as bread & milk.

Let's up sticks & leave behind the people who claim benefits with no effort made to find a job, ruin our streets and basically don't struggle in life. Rip off Britain once again.

[Mark Astill coventry 31 May 2008 13:54:38]

once again the british public are being taken for a ride by our goverment.
drop your tax on fuel stop spending our money on war and close the flood gates on immigrants.
sort out our own people first i have always wondered what i would have to do .if i lost my house would the goverment be as quick to give me a house .would i be able to jump the waiting list or is my problem im from this country .
if you have a skill and we need it come over to this country with pleasure but pay your way.
these things never came into my mind but now my company is feeling the pinch and we are to loose workers and some good friends . and we are being told its the economy.
mr brown look after your fellow country men first
please

[Alex, East Sussex 26 May 2008 10:17:01]

House prices have reached ridiculous heights because mortgage lenders were willing to offer amounts completely diproportionate to income levels. We are told, by those in Real Estate, who have a vested interest in keeping prices high, that market prices reflected a shortage of property. But we don't see that many homeless people do we? So the property is there, it's just in the rental not sales market. Could it be that the huge increase in Buy-to-let came about through the burgeoning phenomenon of property speculation by the "little man"? Those who had the funds in the early Nineties took advantage of a very cheap housing market and the plight of so many who lost their homes and were forced into rental accommodation. Property bought at rock bottom prices will always appreciate so it became a speculators failsafe dream. Fuelled by greedy banks and even greedier estate agents prices were pushed beyond anyone's affordabiltiy levels. When the Banking Industry started offering 100+% mortgages of 4, 5 and even 6 times people's salaries the spiral got out of control. The "credit crunch" has meant that banks are once again becoming prudent in their dealings, as they used to be two decades ago. If a few later entrants into the buy-to-let market have had their fingers burnt I'm afraid it's through their own stupidity. If they outstretched themselves in an already unsustainable market and have lost, too bad! I feel for the first-time buyer who had no choice but to buy in the overinflated market of the last five years and who was tempted by the easy money offered by banks. As for the growing discontent with this Government....what did they expect? They've been offering us a false inflation statistic for years to which some private and most Government salary rises (except MPs) have been pegged. People have been maxing out their easy credit for years in order to live well or to simply fill the real income gap between what the Government told us was happening with prices and what had really been going on. Now the credit's gone and people have to face the grim reality. We really can't afford to live in this Blair&Brown created Britain.

[Nigel Bullock MRICS, Derbyshire 20 May 2008 13:51:10]

When is this dithering prime minister going to do something to boost consumer confidence in the property market?

What's happened to all the money they have supposedly lent to banks to improve mortgage lending?

There is no consumer confidence, the mortgage rate needs to come down and the gloom and doom needs to stop.

[Jacqui Peacock Bognor Regis 20 May 2008 09:23:40]

In order for the Goverment to keep the UK in order, they have to close the border to any more incomers from the EU.

How are we to build houses for an unknown factor? How are we to budget the social service and health/doctor services for an unknown quantity.

Logic must rule the day not PC

[Paul Bromley, Viewers' Editor 19 May 2008 12:46:40]

Thank you for all your comments so far.

It has been interesting to read about your experiences and views.

Please keep them coming.

[Roland St Albans 17 May 2008 13:19:12]

So Gordon Brown is going to extend shared ownership to more first time buyers. This is a total con.

Firstly, property prices will be kept artificially high at this end of the market. Purchasers will be spending just as much on a part-mortgage and part-rent basis as they would have done on a full mortgage.

However the most worrying part about this plan is that it only applies to your first property. Assuming you may want to live with a partner and have a family one day, you better not buy a one bedroom flat (the most likely thing you will be able to afford as your first purchase). Otherwise you will be stuck in undersize accommodation for your future needs. Oh and if you decide to sell your property , the housing association have first refusal at their calculation of the market value price. Looks like someone will do well from this type of deal and it won't be you!

I do feel sorry for this country's lost generations. Living at home with their parents with no prospect of owning their own home.

[Ann Reading 16 May 2008 13:45:52]

This has come to a shock to many 1st time buyers who assumed that they could get 100% mortgages as they could afford the payments. However as a debt advisor and accountant I have found that time and time again people ignore many small costs when they work out their monthly expenditure. They have a myriad of excuses; it's small it's a one off etc. Unfortunately these small costs add up and when there is a price hike they go from just coping to heavy debt. They also fall foul of the credit rating. They think because they have one they must be able to afford anything and everything they want. Mortgage lenders have certainly been very frivioulous with what is in fact our money; they will not lose jobs or be made homeless.

But and it is a resigned but.. Those buying for the 1st time would do well to work on afording and 80% mortgage and save the deposit. They will start of with owning 20% of their home: be able to well afford the repayments and not have to worry about negivate equity.

[Ian, Lancashire 14 May 2008 19:38:47]

I have to agree with David Mills, too many people do tend to treat property less as a home and more as part of a portfolio or as a base for future revenue growth.
I have no sympathy for those who get their fingers burned in the buy to let market, I feel more for those who cannot afford to buy their first home.
The trouble with building new homes is that too many will get into the hands of those who purely want profit rather than those in real need. I see no-one in Government (or the Opposition parties) who has a solution to this issue.

On a personal note, since I lost my car last year I keep looking at the petrol prices at local garages from the bus window and I see nothing that tempts me to get back behind the wheel. It's occasionally inconvenient but that's a minor grumble compared with the savings.

I really do feel for those just starting out in adult life now. I often hear young people say they are not looking at starting paying into pensions until they are at least 25, especially with low wages and growing student debts.

Re inflation at 3%, you can get it down to 1% if you choose the right basket of purchases. It's all smoke and mirrors and the sensible members of the public are wise to that now.

[David Mills, Alicante 14 May 2008 14:03:34]

In most countries, people buy a house to live in.
Not so in the UK where people are calculating their profit before they even move in.

Using property to generate cash is just like speculating on the stock exchange and carries all the same risks.

Why can't people be happy to have a roof over their heads and quit moaning about potential losses in a notoriously volatile market?

[Kevin Felstead, Billingham, Cleveland 14 May 2008 14:01:55]

I, as a member of the general public and someone involved in mortgages, would like to have my point of view put across.

I am a sole trading Mortgage Adviser, and I understand that now is the time the government took this crisis by the scruff of the neck and dealt with it in a manner that actually moves it forward properly, not just giving a bit help piece by piece, but do something more drastic, and significant.

I do not charge fees and rely on mortgages going ahead so I can earn commission so I am able to pay for my own mortgage, food, and fuel etc, but I find it more and more difficult on a daily basis where I want to help clients with their mortgage and improve their lifestyle, and help them pay off their debts for a clean slate, however more and more clients are being declined by lenders because they are being over cautious in their lending, and many lenders I had clients going through, all of a sudden close their doors to lending before the client gets their mortgage offer and then cant find other lenders, this is seriously affecting the countries stability more than being shown.

[Ian, Manchester 14 May 2008 12:55:21]

What we need is a fairer distribution of wealth before it is too late.

We are being priced and taxed
out of our jobs. Where they get 3% inflation from, heaven knows.