{"id":25397,"date":"2016-09-08T01:45:36","date_gmt":"2016-09-07T18:45:36","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/short-term-loan-history-from-workhouse-to-wonga-shows-things-are-getting-worse-letters\/"},"modified":"2016-09-08T01:59:26","modified_gmt":"2016-09-07T18:59:26","slug":"short-term-loan-history-from-workhouse-to-wonga-shows-things-are-getting-worse-letters","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/short-term-loan-history-from-workhouse-to-wonga-shows-things-are-getting-worse-letters\/","title":{"rendered":"Short-term loan history, from workhouse to Wonga, shows things are getting worse | Letters"},"content":{"rendered":"


\nIn 1797 Patrick Colquhoun was worried about pawnbrokers. Colquhoun, a Glaswegian merchant and magistrate, had co-founded a soup kitchen in London that aimed to \u201calleviate distress\u201d among working families. Colquhoun believed that the provision of nutritious and healthy soups would not simply assuage immediate hunger. He hoped it would also lessen the dependence of working people on pawnbrokers. Unemployment, sickness or the death of breadwinners often obliged the poor to borrow money from shady lenders. Sometimes they pawned the very tools they needed to work. Colquhoun was shocked by the extortionate interest rates charged by pawnbrokers. This was particularly the case with short-term loans, which he believed were very common among working people. He calculated that a loan of 3\u00a0pence could accrue an interest rate of 850% if it was renewed weekly.Colquhoun would be horrified to learn that in 2014 the payday lender Wonga offered loans at a rate of nearly 6,000%. Despite efforts to limit interest rates and ban advertising, the difficult economic circumstances faced by many Britons continue to provide a fertile environment for parasitic lending practices. Wonga\u2019s own website describes an interest rate of 1,509% as \u201crepresentative\u201d. This week the financial ombudsman reported a surge in complaints about payday loans (Report, theguardian.com, 6 September). Wonga\u2019s parent company was the subject of 821. Interest rates for the very poor have gone from 850% in 1797 to 1,509% today. It\u2019s useful, if sobering, to be reminded that things can always get worse.Professor Rebecca EarleDepartment of history, University of Warwick Continue reading…
\n
\nSource : theguardian.com
\nRead more…Short-term loan history, from workhouse to Wonga, shows things are getting worse | Letters<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

In 1797 Patrick Colquhoun was worried about pawnbrokers. Colquhoun, a Glaswegian merchant and magistrate, had...<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"false","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"spay_email":"","footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-25397","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-property-news"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p75ss1-6BD","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":58130,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/lets-move-to-helensburgh-argyll-bute-the-air-seems-to-sparkle\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":0},"title":"Let\u2019s move to Helensburgh, Argyll & Bute: \u2018The air seems to sparkle\u2019","date":"June 16, 2017","format":false,"excerpt":"\r I\u2019m surprised more artists haven\u2019t settled here, but a quick eye on local history shows they were beaten to it by Johnny PoshWhat\u2019s going for it? There\u2019s no escaping the waters in Helensburgh. They\u2019re in front of you (the Clyde), to the side (Gare Loch) and behind (Loch Lomond).\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":118254,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/mortgage-wars-home-loan-rates-drop-even-lower-as-tsb-offers-2-49-per-cent-rate\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":1},"title":"Mortgage wars: Home loan rates drop even lower as TSB offers 2.49 per cent rate","date":"August 17, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Home loan rates have been slashed again - with TSB offering a one-year home loan rate of 2.49 per cent.The staggering low rate is believed to be a market record and puts it 0.6 per cent lower than all the other major banks.TSB's...\r \r Source : nzherald.co.nz\/Property\r Read more...Mortgage\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":155155,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/dubai-aerospace-enterprise-signs-300mn-unsecured-term-loan\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":2},"title":"Dubai Aerospace Enterprise signs $300mn unsecured term loan\u00a0","date":"June 3, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Dubai-based aircraft leasing company signs major financing agreement with Bank of China\r \r Source : arabianbusiness.com\r Read more...Dubai Aerospace Enterprise signs 0mn unsecured term loan\u00a0","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/06\/dubai-aerospace-enterprise-Boeing-737-1000x667-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":159680,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/taqa-secures-2-31bn-term-loan-in-aed-to-boost-liquidity-and-advance-growth\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":3},"title":"TAQA secures $2.31bn term-loan, in AED, to boost liquidity and advance growth","date":"August 21, 2025","format":false,"excerpt":"\r Structured as a floating rate two-year facility, it delivers lower borrowing costs and allows for phased drawdowns and support its 2025 funding plan\r \r Source : arabianbusiness.com\r Read more...TAQA secures .31bn term-loan, in AED, to boost liquidity and advance growth","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i1.wp.com\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/08\/TAQA-1-1000x667-1.jpg?fit=1000%2C667&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":77702,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/legalized-loan-sharking-payday-loan-customers-recount-their-experiences\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":4},"title":"'Legalized loan sharking': payday loan customers recount their experiences","date":"January 22, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau has ordered a review of rules on short-term loans. Three customers say companies lured them into a trapMick Mulvaney, White House budget director and interim director of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, recently announced a review of rules on payday loans. Payday loan companies\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]},{"id":16270,"url":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/property-news\/meydan-raises-funds-through-sukuk-and-term-loan\/","url_meta":{"origin":25397,"position":5},"title":"Meydan raises funds through sukuk and term loan","date":"June 12, 2016","format":false,"excerpt":"\r The Meydan Group has raised Dh1 billion in debt funding, which the company has said will help to improve its capital structure and provide cash for new projects.The company, which owns and operates Dubai's main racecourse and an adjoining hotel, raised the money through a Dh700 million sukuk and\u2026","rel":"","context":"In "Property News"","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"","width":0,"height":0},"classes":[]}],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25397"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=25397"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/25397\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=25397"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=25397"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.siamlandbank.com\/propertynews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=25397"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}