Just read this article:
FT.com / Columnists / Martin Wolf - How to meet the dangers facing Britain
"...The UK should not want housing finance to behave as it did in the years leading up to August 2007 ever again..."
Maybe not the crux of the bigger picture and certainly the article isn't going to magically solve our problems but I have to agree wholeheartedly with the sentiments above.
Mrs and I are both qualified lawyers and the client she dealt with the other day was the perfect example of reckless lending.
I'm training (pilot), sh*t scared but thankfully not in debt to any financial institution to do it.