Footwear at start of year is difficult to get hold of (8)
I believe the answer is:
slippery
'difficult to get hold of' is the definition.
'footwear at start of year' is the wordplay.
'footwear' becomes 'slipper' (slipper is a kind of footwear).
'at' says to put letters next to each other.
'start of year' becomes 'y'.
'slipper'+'y'='SLIPPERY'
'is' is the link.
(Other definitions for slippery that I've seen before include "found difficult to get hold of" , "Unreliable" , "Not to be trusted" , "Hard to grasp, like an eel" , "Descent into sin in this sort of slope" .)