Increased mortgage lending "is very good news"

The increased mortgage lending in July recorded by the Bank of England (BoE) has been described as "very good news".

According to Katie Tucker, technical manager at broker firm Mortgageforce, a revival in mortgage lending is "absolutely pivotal" to the recovery of the country's property market.

The BoE data showed that the number of loan approvals for house purchases stood at 50,123 in July, while remortgages totalled 35,206.

This was the highest level recorded for over a year.

Ms Tucker said that lending by banks and building societies has risen back up to nearly half the level it was in July 2007.

However, the expert went on to state: "Most specialist lenders have moved into other businesses or closed down altogether, so we would be wrong to expect the housing market to return to its former health without a long fight."

A whole section of mortgage funding continues to struggle for a "resurrection", she added.

Consumers 'risking debt problems through lack of protection'

Many consumers in the UK are potentially risking debt problems by failing to secure adequate insurance.

This is according to Scottish Provident, which suggested that most people find it difficult to accept that they may face redundancy or a serious illness which prevents them from working.

Head of marketing at the firm Susan Barclay said that consumers do not wish to think of such things happening to them.

She added: "Despite some very high-profile cases of critical illness in the media and news of mass redundancies nearly every day, people in Britain still think that 'it' will never happen to them."

According to the expert, securing cover is an "essential" part of financial planning and people need to make sure they have a plan in place and sufficient insurance so that they do not run into financial problems if their life situation changes.

Recently, David Kuo, director of Fool.co.uk, suggested that the rising level of unemployment in the UK is to lead to an increase in debt problems.

Unsecured loans 'becoming less popular'

The popularity of unsecured loans among UK consumers is diminishing, it has been claimed.

Figures produced by the Finance and Leasing Association (FLA) suggested that total unsecured finance provided to people in the 12 months to February 2009 by FLA members was £58.2 billion.

This represented a decrease of 12 per cent compared with the year ending February 2008.

FLA head of research and chief economist Geraldine Kilkelly said: "Rising unemployment and low consumer confidence have led to a further drop in unsecured loan new business in the last two months."

Meanwhile, secured loans were said to have declined by 83 per cent in February this year compared with the same month in 2008.

Recently, the government announced that it is to provide additional funding for the Social Fund, which enables people on unemployment benefits to get interest-free loans for one-off purchases, such as buying a suit for a job interview.