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Today wasn’t a good day for the UK property market.

We hear from the prediction from Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) that there will be less mortgage products available in 2008, particularly for the sub prime sector.

We also hear that the number of mortgage approvals fell by 20% in September with the CML making further dire predictions that the growth in property prices will slow to just 1% in 2008, which is a net fall, of course, if you take the effects of inflation into account.

The most concerning statistic that I saw today, though , was that repossessions are predicted to increase by 50% in 2008. When remortgages and secured home loans become more difficult to obtain by those looking for a desperate last measure to safe them from repossession, then this sad statistic looks realistic.

In the finance market, we are already seeing some applicants with high loan to values being rejected by lenders, whereas they would have been welcomed with open arms a few months ago. Others with very poor credit histories are also facing difficulties securing loans at the moment too. It is these people who are at most risk of being repossessed.

So who can feel optimistic about the property market now? Not me.

Sometimes I wonder what the UK Government have against pensions. It is not very long since Gordon Brown raided the pensions piggy bank in a move that is estimated to cost UK pensioners £100 billion.

Now it seems the Government is interfering with pensions again. They are considering reducing the amount that an employer has to pay into a pension scheme when an employee leaves their job.

Currently an employer has to increase the amount it pays into its pension fund for early leavers in line with the retail price index. This ensures that the pension is protected, to some degree, from inflation.

The new proposals mean that employers would only have to pay a maximum contribution of up to 2.5% a year, but as the current retail price index is 3.9%, this means that over time someone who changes their job will see decrease in their pension against inflation.

This sounds like good news to employers who need pay less into their pension schemes for people who have left employment with them. However it reinforces the belief that the Government isn’t interested in supporting company pension schemes. As usual it also seems badly thought through as people made redundant or taking career breaks - maternity leave, for example - would also be affected.

It strikes me that you have to take ownership of your own pension provision, through long term savings and investments as well as with conventional pension plans. This news only re-inforces my belief in this stance.

However if you object to these proposals by the Government then you can particpate in the “e-petition” on the 10 Downing Street web site here.

House prices in the UK could tumble, according to the International Monetary Fund (IMF). They predict that the fall in property values could be as savage as those occurring in the USA.

One major house building company in the USA has seen half its house sales cancelled as buyers flee the market, or are unable to borrow sufficient funds to complete their purchases.

Although the IMF recognises that there is less sub prime lending in the UK, the fact that houses have become so unaffordable is giving them cause for concern.

Within the finance market in the UK, we have seen three mainly sub prime lenders withdraw from the market following the credit squeeze, however most people who want to borrow money still seem to find lenders willing to lend to them, whatever their credit histories.

So I’m not sure if there will be substantial falls in house prices in the UK, particularly as demand remains strong, however when you see reports that renting is now cheaper than buying a property, it makes you think that investing in property is certainly not as attractive as it was.

The Conservative party will scrap the unpopular Home Improvement Packs (Hips) scheme if they are elected at the next election.

In fact they are so determined to reverse this scheme that Grant Shapps MP, the Shadow Housing Minister, is already preparing the Civil Service and existing HIPs businesses for the abolition of Home information packs, if the Conservatives form the next government.

Of course for the HIPs businesses and the home inspectors who have invested in their training and new careers, this spells very bad news indeed. Grant Shapps is warning them to basically “start looking for a new job”!

Most of the contents of home information packs do seem to be redundant, and of little interest to house buyers, however as I reported yesterday, the energy efficiency report is forcing householders to reduce the energy requirements of their homes.

The Conservatives take a strong stance on green issues so surely they must seriously consider keeping the energy efficiency report even if they consign the rest of the contents of the HIP to the bin.

Home information packs (HIP’s) are still not being seen by house sellers and buyers as adding any value to the sales process, however it does seem that they are forcing people to think about improving the energy efficiency of their home.

I must admit that when I was insulating our loft, it did occur to me that having far better insulation would be beneficial should we ever put the property on the market. The thought of an energy efficiency inspector shining his torch around the loft did spring to my mind when I was rolling out the rolls of Space Blanket insulation.

So this element of the HIPs scheme seems good. Not only does better energy efficiency save you money with lower heating bills, but it also reduces your carbon footprint.

It’s the other parts of the home information packs that seem to be far from useful to house buyers and certainly not to house sellers. If buyers are not interested in the contents of the reports, particularly if the local council searches are more than three months old, then it seems crazy that the house seller has to stump up to compile a number of legal documents without real purpose.

So almost three months into the HIPs scheme, they are still not considered useful, other than for the greater awareness of increasing energy efficiency.

I was a bit surprised to learn today that buy to let mortgages are still one of the most buoyant sectors of the mortgage market.

According to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML), lending for house purchases and remortgages fell by 11 percent during the last year, however loans for buy to let investments actually increased during the same period.

Commenting on the general state of the mortgage market, Michael Coogan, the CML Director General, said that “affordability clearly remains challenging but there may be some relief for borrowers with expectations of an interest rate cut, perhaps as early as November.”

So if there is an increase rate cut soon, then this is clearly good news for home owners. But as I said before, in my area, at least, new flats do not appear to be taken up by buy to let investors at the moment.

Perhaps the disparity between what the CML survey shows and what is going on around here is because their survey is for the period for the year to August 2007. As this was before the Northern Rock crisis, their findings may not be a good predictor of what will happen to the mortgage market in the coming months.

House prices actually fell in September, according to the latest survey by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

It’s interesting to see that not only did the number of people looking to buy a house drop, but that the number of people looking to sell decreased too.

So the housing market is slowing down - no doubt responding to the rises in interest rates earlier this year and to the uncertainty caused by the recent credit crunch problems.

Confidence is everything in high value asset markets such as housing and it seems to be slipping away at the moment.

I personally don’t think that there will be a house price crash, even with affordability at an all time low, but I am expecting a period of stagnation or even a drift downwards in house prices.

In my opinion, the property market must find a new level as it responds to the new market conditions and the as yet unknown impact of Home information packs.

Buying a car is an expensive business so it really pays to take the time to find the best deals. Although it took me one and a half days of negotiations with a number of different suppliers, I have found a deal on a new car that will save me thousands of pounds over the next three years.

I also learnt something important how the car industry works that can be used to your advantage to save thousands, as I’m doing.

I’ve discovered that the car manufacturers work against quarterly targets and strive to obtain as many registrations in each quarter as possible. As the quarter ends, some manufacturers release a number of vehicles to their dealers at hugely discounted prices. This gives the dealers massive opportunities to sell cars at very low prices at the end of the quarter to boost the number of new registered vehicles.

Some of these vehicles are released to car leasing companies who can offer them at massively discounted rates. As the car manufacturers want to sell a number of cars as quickly as possible, they often add to the incentive by releasing vehicles with a high specification.

This means that you can lease a high specification car at absolutely rock bottom prices. These prices are way below what you’d pay for a personal contract purchase plan. You can, in effect, save the amount that you’d pay for the deposit in a PCP plan and often get a superior car as well. You save thousands of pounds!

The slight downside is that the cars released by the manufacturers are already built so they are at a set specification, but as long as you aren’t too fussy with your requirements, you can buy an absolute bargain, which is what I have done.

All you need do is to try and time your purchase for the last few weeks of the quarter and then speak to as many car leasing or car brokers as possible. These incredible bargains get snatched up quickly, but huge discounts are there for you, if you do that bit of work.

I mentioned a few weeks ago that you should be wary of hidden credit card charges that banks can spring on you. Well, today another trick that bank use to increase the charges of their credit cards has come to light.

Credit card companies are using an “order of payment” to increase their charges. Basically this means that they pay off low interest earning payments first and those payments that attract the highest charges, last.

For example, a cash withdrawal attracts more charges than a normal purchase so if you do not clear your monthly bill, the credit card company will use your money to clear the cheap debts first, keeping the expensive cash advance unpaid. It can therefore maximise its charges to you, and this is all within their terms and conditions.

So what can you do about it?

Well firstly ask your credit company if the practise of “order of payments” applies to your credit card. If it does then you should consider carefully the impact that cash advances and balance transfers can have on your monthly charges. You could also try and find a credit card that doesn’t use this “order of payments” approach, but they are very hard to find, as our article on MoneyHighStreet.com, points out.

It seems that the thermostat is harming domestic bliss, according to a new survey by MoneySupermarket.com.

Apparently 11 percent of couples argue about turning the heating up. Men, it appears are more resilient to the cold and are more likely to give their partner a hard time when they want to warm up the house a bit more.

This strikes a bit of a chord at the moment - not because I am arguing with my wife about the heating costs, but because there is no longer a need to keep turning the heating up in our house after my foray into the loft with rolls of space blanket loft insulation.

It’s not been very cold yet, of course, but the house is noticeably warmer and it heats up much more rapidly now too.

So if you want to avoid domestic strife over the thermostat then I thoroughly recommend insulating the loft!

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