WEEKLY NEWS

Friday, 1, October 2010

Marathon Bid Waits

For Council Decision
LIVERPOOL could stage its first
marathon in over 20 years as it awaits its
decision from the City Council due to be
made on the Friday, 1 October.
The marathon would be held in October 2011
expecting to attract 10,000 competitors gener-
ating a £3 million economic impact.
The city has been short-listed after a competi-
tive tendering process by Limelight sports to
host the Blue Riband race which would be
one of the top marathons in the UK - along-
side the London Marathon and the Great
North Run.
The event is said that it would incorporate
Liverpool's major iconic buildings, National
Heritage Waterfront and skyline that the city
has to offer.
The city awaits a decision about the Liver-
pool marathon which is set to be made by the
Unveiled Plans Could
“Collapse Economy”
council on the first day of October.

1000th Time Lucky
A MILESTONE was reached yesterday as
sport in Merseyside has seen over 1,000
people attending Merseyside Sports Part-
nership Courses since the courses began in
March 2008.
The 1000th atendee was Dave Goodall Liver-
pool Community Cricket Development
Coach.
“I was surprised to discover that I was the
1,000th attendee of courses delivered by the
Merseyside Sports Partnership,”said Mr
Goodall.
“The course that took me to this landmark
was ‘Safeguarding & Protecting Children’ de-
livered at Greenbank Sports Academy”
“I look forward to the challenge of being the
2,000th participant!”
Merseyside Sports Partnership (MSP) is a
network of agencies committed to establish-
ing an inclusive sports system.
HOUSE PRICES could “crash” if a new
proposal from the Financial Standards
Authority is to be approved.
A source has exclusively revealed that if the
FSA's 'New Standards for Responsible
Lending' are agreed on, the damages could be
“monumental” leading to the economy
“collapsing”.
The plans require mortgage applicants to
have affordability tests for all mortgage
applications, as well as making lenders more
responsible for assessing a borrower’s ability
to pay.
This however could potentially 'cripple' the
mortgage market and greatly reduce the
amount of house prices in the UK.
“The borrower's will not be able to borrow as
much,” said the source. “Which means that
the cost of house prices will fall sharply.”
“The cost is going to go down, way more
than the FSA think it is going to go down.”
The FSA believes that everyone who takes on
a mortgage must be able to show they can
afford to pay it back.
“There is a clear link between financial
overstretch and mortgage arrears and
repossessions,” said Lesley Titcombe FSA
director, responsible for the mortgage market.
“We are determined to protect vulnerable
consumers by making sure that everyone who
takes on a mortgage can afford to pay it
back.”
As house prices fall, potentially accelerated
by these proposals, then it is predicted that it
will prolong the recession.
“There could be a difference of 15% housing
price reduction,” said the source. “It will
mean more people are taken out of their
homes, people won't be able to borrow and
then the whole economy collapses.”
The Council of Mortgage Lenders are
currently working on some research into
these proposals after some concern of this
new legislation.
In a BBC article published earlier this month,
director general Michael Coogan from CML
said “This is just one of a number of unin-
tended consequences of the FSA's
well-meaning but misguided proposals.
“The CML believes the UK's existing 11
million mortgage borrowers' have every right
to be concerned.”
So, as more and more people struggle with
the recession, are the new measures going to
reflect the state of the public finances and
look to help the public in the immediate
future?
“There are moral and ethical issues involved.
I think we should delay the proposals as to
give people protection,” said a source.
“Now is a bad time as the market is on its
knees – in the future I do think that this is the
right measure, but currently, this is totally the
wrong time to do it.”
The FSA document also outlines the need to
require verification of borrowers' income in
every case to – in a bid to prevent over
inflation of income and to prevent mortgage
fraud.
The FSA also believe it will provide extra
protection for vulnerable customers with a
credit-impaired history.
The FSA are currently awaiting feedback
from consumer groups and the industry
across the UK on the proposed agreements by
16th November, looking to motion the
proposals in the early quarter of next year.