Not sure of your point there given that Northern Rock and Bear Stearns have both gone bust in the last 6 months.
Its by no means a UK only problem. Ireland is in worse shape than us as is Spain:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/money/mai...-mostviewedbox
Foreign banks flee Spanish property debt
By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Madrid
Last Updated: 1:06am BST 04/04/2008
International banks are scrambling to sell their holdings of Spanish mortgage debt at a steep discount, fearing that the country may be sliding into the worst economic downturn in its modern history.