Contractors and other individuals wanting to borrow money are finding it harder than ever to secure credit at the moment, one expert has said.

Darren Cook, spokesman for Moneyfacts.co.uk said that lenders have moved from rate-based lending to risk-based lending due to the economic downturn and that it has taken borrowers a while to accept this.

"Expectations were that when the base rate was going down, the cost of finance was going to get cheaper," he explained.

Mr Cook added that some significant decisions will take place that will impact on the daily lifestyle of Brits.

Meanwhile, research from Santander Savings found that the average time frame between paying off a mortgage and retirement, known as the savings window, is shrinking rapidly.

Figured revealed that those who first took out a mortgage in the early 1960s enjoyed a savings window of 21 years in comparison to just ten years for those who did so in between 2000 and 2010.