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Realistic, JHG, in fact if anything I am on the bullish side when you read the amount of economic commentaries I do....
I dont disagree with the talking up point, at the end of the day the economy is about confidence but people are not stupid, they know there is still an awful lot of pain to come and you simply discredit yourself if you do not acknowldge that.
Howard - yes but the point is a lot of people being turned down are attempting to re-mortgage to benefit from low rates, it is not so much new borrowing for purchases.
Currently properties are still being down valued quite heavily. I have a case, of which I have first hand experience, in respect of a self-build project, 'oop north' where the land was valued at £150k a few weeks ago, the prospective lender decided to get it re-valued due to a delay and they then came up with £75k, a huge difference, the deal fell through on that, which was what the nationalised bank wanted. My colleague has found a way to deal with this, fortunately for the individual concerned. I am only thankful I am not heavily into mortgages in my business or I would have a serious cashflow problem, not that it is easy even so!