The government’s £37bn bank bail-out was completed today and, coupled with a recent interest rate drop by the Bank of England to 4.5%, both borrowers and savers are likely to see some changes which may affect their borrowing circumstances and their savings.

The bail-out is designed to protect banks from collapse whilst, at the same time, inject some life back into the financial markets after a difficult year so far.

UK house prices registered a 1.3% fall in September, according to Britain’s biggest lender; the Halifax.

The lender claimed that the drop, attributed primarily to the low availability of credit, meant the annual fall now stood at 12.4%, with the cost of the average home in the UK now at £172,108.

September was the eighth consecutive month in which house prices registered a fall on the previous month and Halifax’s chief economist Martin Ellis expected conditions to remain “challenging”.