Where did the 75,000 repo figure come from?
The Council of Mortgage Lenders has just distanced itself from the 75k figure which has rapidly taken hold in the media. It is a totemic number, as it is almost exactly the peak of the last recession: in 1991.
It’s not an official estimate though, contrary to numerous reports. The CML is predicting 45,000 repossessions this year. As for next year, it tells me: “It is not our forecast, it is very unlikely to be our forecast, we are putting out the new figure next week.” Read more
Heathrow runway decision postponed til end of January
Environmentalists are delighted by the news – earlier this morning – that the Heathrow third runway decision has been postponed til the end of January.
With reports of splits among cabinet ministers (Hilary Benn and the Miliband brothers are the most vociferous opponents, I’m told) some see the delay as a sign that the project is doomed. Read more
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Jim Pickard is the FT's chief political correspondent, having joined the lobby team in January 2008. He has been at the FT since 1999 as a regional correspondent, assistant UK news editor and property correspondent.
Kiran Stacey is an FT political correspondent, having joined the lobby in 2011. He started at the FT as a graduate trainee in 2008, working on desks including UK companies and US equity markets before taking over the FT's Energy Source blog.
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