Vox Pops

By Emily Fisher and Jenny Ross

The Bank of England has announced that £1.8 trillion has been lost by financial firms around the world as a result of the credit crunch. The global recession is now threatening 1.2 million UK homeowners as house prices drop below that of their mortgage. The chairman of online estate agency, first4sale.com said, “the housing market is severely depressed at the moment because of the lack of money supply and I’ve noticed the same symptoms in the international market. I can only see an improvement in the situation when the banks start lending again“.
Heather Atkins, 45 from Southbourne said “I’ve rung my mortgage, gas and electricity companies to organise my payment as I cannot afford to pay them all off in the same month.”
Many families will be hit hard by the slump in the housing market; Amanda Mallett, a mother- of- two from Wokingham in Berkshire expressed worried about the price of her mortgage.
The unemployment rates have increased with up to 1.7 million out of work in 2008, causing many UK citizens to fear for their job security.
John Grantham, 42 from Christchurch said, “I think my job could be at risk as there will be more competition. I work for the council. The commercial sector has been the worst affected so far but it may have a knock-on effect”.
In contrast, another council worker, Sam Oliver, 20, of Edge Park, Bournemouth said, “no I’m not affected at all because I’ve just started a new job, I would have been affected in my old job though.”
Jobseekers, however, are starting to feel the pressure. Bournemouth University students Bryony Gilbert and Megan Boyes said, “there are no jobs anywhere. We’ve asked in every store in town but nobody is recruiting.”
With winter approaching, charities such as Help the Aged are setting up schemes to aid the elderly, for example by providing free loft insulation to cut down their energy bills.
Mrs Morris, 81, from Christchurch said, “the pensions haven’t changed yet but the bills have doubled. The government should help pensioners pay for their fuel bill; the current fuel allowance is nowhere near enough. I don’t worry about the bills until they come in and I realise I can’t afford them. Heating’s essential!”
Sheila Smith, a 53 year-old assistant-shop-manager, agrees with her, “food prices and utility bills have gone up, but my wages haven’t. At least I haven’t lost my job, though.”
For those in the tourist industry it is hard to say as they’ve not yet had a full season; Tom, a bouncy castle owner from Boscombe, said “we had a tough summer but that was probably due to the weather.”