Debt Facts and Figures - (Compiled 1st August 2008)
Debt Facts and Figures - (Compiled 1st July 2008)
Debt Facts and Figures - (Compiled 1st June 2008)
Debt Facts and Figures - (Compiled 1st March 2008)
Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 1st February 2008)
Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 4th January 2008)
Christmas / New Year Season (Special Report)
Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 1st October 2007)
Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 1st August 2007)
Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 1st June 2007)

Debt - The Hard Facts (Compiled 1st August 2007)

Total UK personal debt

Total UK personal debt at the end of June 2007 stood at £1,345bn. The growth rate increased to 10.2% for the previous 12 months which equates to an increase of £107bn.

Total secured lending on homes at the end of June 2007 stood at £1,131bn. This has increased 11.2% in the last 12 months.

Total consumer credit lending to individuals in June 2007 was £214bn. This has increased 5.2% in the last 12 months.

Total lending in June 2007 grew by £10.4bn. Secured lending grew by £9.6bn in the month. Consumer credit lending grew by £0.9bn.

Average household debt in the UK is £8,841 (excluding mortgages) and £55,567 including mortgages.

Average owed by every UK adult is £28,600 (including mortgages). This grew by £220 last month.

Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.7m households who currently have mortgages is £96,648.

Average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately £3,660 each year (this equates to 9% of take home pay).

Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to £4,550 per average UK adult at the end of June 2007. This figure increases to £10,200 if the average is based on the number adults who actually own some form of unsecured loan (21m according to the Bank of England).

Britain's personal debt is increasing by £1 million every 4 minutes.

Today in the UK:

1) Consumers will borrow an additional £320m today
2) The average household debt will increase by over £13 today
3) 330 people today will be declared insolvent or bankrupt
4) 2,750 County Court Judgements (CCJs) issued
5) Bank and building societies will hand out £1bn in mortgages today
6) Citizen Advice Bureaus will deal with 5,300 debt problems today
7) The average car will cost £15 to run today
8) More than 7,716 loan repayments are going unpaid every day
9) The average home will cost £30 today to run
10) Raising a child to the age of 21 will now set you back £23.50 daily
11)The price of a typical house will increase by £45 today
12)£500m will be withdrawn from cash machines today by 7.5m people across the UK
13) 24.5m transactions worth £1.4bn will be spent on plastic cards today
14) 1/3rd of all groceries we buy today will end up in the dustbin.

Servicing Debt:
Borrowing costs hit a six-year high as the Bank of England pushed up interest rates in July 2007 by a quarter-point to 5.75% following a jump in inflation. This is the fifth rise in the last 12 months.

1.2m electricity customers and 0.8m gas customers are in debt and have debt payment arrangement scheduled to last longer than 13 weeks.

Almost half of working Brits were in the red at least once last year and over 2.1m are permanently overdrawn.

More than 7.4m household bill payments have been missed or paid late in the past six months. 1.23m regular bill payments ranging from gas and electricity to mobile phones and council tax have been missed each month.

More than 160,000 people contacted the Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) in the first half of this year - an increase of 18.5% on the same period last year.

According to research by the Conservative Social Justice Policy Group between 7 and 9 million people in Britain claim to have had a serious debt problem and they estimate that British consumers are on average twice as indebted as those in Continental Europe.

Personal debt as a proportion of income has risen from 105% in 1997 to 164% in 2006 - the highest ever recorded and the highest in the developed world.

330 people are becoming insolvent each day. There were 30,075 individual insolvencies (bankruptcy or IVA - Individual Voluntary Arrangement) in England and Wales in the first quarter of 2007 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 1.2% on the previous quarter and an increase of 23.9% on the same period a year ago.

33,715 mortgage possession claims were issued during the first quarter of 2007, 1% higher than in the first quarter of 2006 and 10% higher than the previous quarter. 21,931 mortgage possession orders were made, 1% higher than in the first quarter of 2006.

The number of county court judgments (CCJs) has risen to a near 10-year high. A total of 247,187 consumer debt related CCJs were issued in the first three months of the year - the highest quarterly total since the summer of 1997.

Consumers who decide to take out consolidation loans in order to tackle mounting debt are being advised to exercise caution, following reports that the majority of consolidation loan borrowers go on to accumulate further debt. Fool.co.uk has found that three out of five consumers who opt for consolidation loans generate more debt, while a quarter manage to clear their debts early due to consolidation.

More than 80% of Britons admit to regularly overspending (26% overspend to cheer themselves up when they are feeling low - they don't call it retail therapy for nothing!). 5% have considered or taken out an IVA or declared themselves bankrupt. 9% have taken out a credit card to pay off debt on another credit card. 10% have missed payments on credit cards, store cards, loan or mortgage repayments.

According to a recent report by the Legal Services Research Centre (LSRC) 89% of debt clients interviewed reported worrying about their money problems ‘most’ or ‘all’ of the time. Perhaps as a consequence, the great majority of clients believed their health had been adversely affected by their debt problems. 48% of clients described the impact of problems on their health as ‘great’, and 43% felt that their heath had suffered ‘to some extent’. Around three in five clients reported having received treatment, medication or counselling as a result. 45% of clients stated that debt problems had a negative effect on relationships with partners.

Almost half of people in the UK are getting stressed at least once a week (47%) according to the Samaritans, with three quarters of people getting stressed at least once a month (74%). The biggest cause of stress for most people is money (51%), followed by job (38%), then family (27%).

Citizens Advice says they were approached for help with 15% more debt problems in January 2007 than in January 2006. They dealt with 1.4million debt problems in the past year – 11 % up on the previous 12 months and double the figure just eight years ago. This equates to ~ 5,300 new debt problems a day.

Research by BBC Breakfast suggests that more than a quarter (27%) of us are anxious about how to pay the bills.

Citizens Advice Bureau (CAB) clients have an average of £13,000 of debt which is nearly 17.5 times their monthly income. On average it would take CAB clients 77 years to pay back their debts in full.

Three quarters (74%) of British couples find money the hardest subject to talk about with their partners according to the Financial Services Authority (FSA). They also found that over a quarter (27%) of couples regularly argue when they try to discuss their finances; about a third (32%) of couples lie to their partners about how much they spend on their credit cards; over a third (35%) of British couples are kept awake at night worrying about their money situation.

Plastic card / Personal Loans
MoneyExpert.com research shows more than 4.1 million credit card bills (700,000 per month) have been missed in the first six months of 2007. A fee of £12 is usually charged for each missed payment.

The combined value of transactions made on charge, credit, debit and store cards was £511bn in 2006.

Total credit card debt in June 2007 was £53.5bn.

According to the BBA the proportion of credit card balances bearing interest was 74.7% in May 2007.

The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 17.14%, around 11.5% above base rate.

Plastic cards in issue were 181m in 2006. This works out at just under 4 plastic cards for every adult in the UK.

284 plastic transactions took place every second in the UK using payment cards (excluding petrol and oyster cards) and there were 86 cash withdrawals / second (equal to £6,279 / second) from UK’s 58,000 cash machines in 2006.

There are more credit cards in the UK than people according to APACS. At the end of 2006 there were 74.4m credit and charge cards in the UK compared with around 60 million people in the country.

The percentage of credit card holders who repay in full in 2006 stood at 58%.

Young people (under 30)
Less than 40% of young adults know of any advice or support service that would be able to help them if they got into money trouble.

Research by pfeg (Personal Finance Education Group) has revealed that over half of England’s teenagers have been or are in debt by the time they are 17. In addition, 90% worry about their money and spending but tend to think of overdrafts and credit cards as easy ways to spend more than they earn, or to buy things they couldn't normally afford.

Nearly half (44%) of young Britons aged 16 to 24 say their friends put pressure on them to keep spending even when they have run out of money.

Graduates leaving university in 2006 had average debts of £13,252, a 5% increase on 2005, according to a survey by NatWest bank. 62% of graduates leave university with debts of over £10,000.

Recent research shows that budgeting is the last thing on many students’ minds as the vast majority (80%) of 16-24 year olds admit they don’t keep track of their finances. Also, despite the likelihood of being on a tight budget, 1 in 5 doesn’t know within £100 what their financial state might be.

Pensioners / Pensions
Analysis of household expenditure between 2002 and 2006 reveals that on average, annual expenditure in households where the main occupant is aged 65–74 has increased by around 9 per cent as opposed to a national average of 4 per cent.

Between 2004 and 2006 total membership of occupational pension schemes fell. In 2006 total membership was estimated to be 27.5 million. This was a decrease of 0.5 million since 2004.

One in four over-60s still have outstanding mortgage debts with an average of £31,000 per head. Over 70s are most vulnerable with an average mortgage debt of £37,000 each.

Nearly a quarter of over-55s with debt over £10,000 said that they are "quite likely" or "certain" to go insolvent.

The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (CCCS) said that the number of over-60s with money worries grew faster than any other age group last year. Pensioners are being forced into debt because of the rising cost of living.

The Pensions Commission says that 11.7 million workers do not make any contribution to a private pension.

Housing
According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the average house price in the UK in May 2007 now stands at £209,454 (£218,225 in England). UK annual house price inflation rose by 10.9%. Annual house price inflation in London rose by 14.5%.

The price of a typical house increased by the equivalent of £45 per day during the last 12 months.

The average Mortgage Interest rate at the end of June 2007 was 5.8%.

The Nationwide said that house prices managed a seasonally adjusted gain of only 0.1% in July, the slowest pace of growth since April 2006. The marked slowdown brought the annual rate of house price inflation down to 9.9%.

It is estimated that over the next 18 months, nearly two million borrowers will see their fixed rate mortgage deals expire. They will need to budget at least £100 / month more than they are currently spending and may also need to pay re-mortgage and / or large arrangement fees if they want to fix their mortgage for an additional period.

Average national asking prices in July 2007 rose by just 0.3% (£684), the lowest monthly rise this year.

The average loan approved for house purchase in June 2007 was £159,600, some 16% higher than a year earlier.

Gross mortgage lending reached a new record of £34.2 billion in June - up from £31.4 billion in May - according to data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders.

Britain's housing stock is worth a total value of £3,915 billion – up 10 per cent on the previous year.

34% of mortgages taken out by home movers in May 2007 were “interest only” mortgages compared with only 12% taken out in June 2003. 27% of these “interest only” mortgages were taken out without a repayment plan specified to repay the capital.

Banks and building societies will hand out £1 billion every day this year in the biggest-ever home loan bonanza in Britain. The Council of Mortgage Lenders said 2007 will be a record year with an extraordinary £360 billion borrowed in mortgages.

Housing 1st Time Buyers
The average house price in the UK in May 2007 for first time buyers now stands at £162,055 which is an annual increase of 11.2%.

Over the past decade first-time buyers appear to be relying more and more on parents and others to help with their deposit. CML estimate that 38% of first-time buyers under 30 – roughly 80,000 in number – got such financial assistance in 2006.

A typical two-income British couple buying their first property in Q4 2006 would have had to commit 34% of their take home pay to meet their initial mortgage payments, the highest level since 1990.

Affordability pressures continued to squeeze first-time buyers as income multiples reached their highest-ever level in May at 3.37 times the average first-time buyer income according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML). The average new mortgage for first time buyers has now reached £117,000. The av. age of a first-time buyer is 28.

According to the National Association of Estate Agencies (NAEA) the number of first time buyers was 9.8% of sales in June 2007.

Spending
Britain is a holiday-loving nation with most of us going on at least two trips a year – but many of us are taking a ‘buy now - worry later’ approach. Research from Alliance & Leicester Savings reveals 4.2 million Britons do not have any qualms about jetting off on their next holiday before actually paying for the last.

The average wedding costs around £20,000. It costs an average of £386 to attend a wedding.

About four million people enjoy spending their money too much to increase the amount they save (a massive increase of 75% on last year) and approximately one third of the British adult population haven’t changed the ways they manage their finances in the last twelve months.

In 2006 / 2007, the average annual cost of sending a child to private school as a day pupil was £9,627 compared to £6,820 in 2002, an increase of 41%. The average annual cost of boarding fees is £20,970. The number of children who attend a private school is 669,300.

Almost 20% of Britons have got into debt by spending on credit in anticipation of receiving a pay rise or work-related bonus.

The number of gamblers who called Gamcare’s helpline shot up by more than a third last year. Gamblers aged between 26 and 35 constituted the largest single group of callers to the helpline. The average debt specified by callers was £13,867.

Research by WRAP (Waste & Resources Action Programme) has revealed that households in the UK throw away around a third of all of the food we buy.

Norwich Union’s "Cost of Divorce" survey reveals that couples now spend an average of £28,000 when a marriage ends - twice the amount spent in 2003.

Money Education / Financial Literacy
It seems that money is fast becoming the nation’s most uncomfortable topic. Research from Scottish Widows shows that we’d rather talk about sex and health than money.

One in three adults – or around 12.4 million people – refuse to plan their finances at all, and those that do find the time to review them set aside a miserly five minutes a week.

Recent research estimates that 50% of people don’t have a will.

A quarter of Brits (25%) have no idea how much they spend in a week, and a similar number (26%) have no idea of their monthly cash flow. This lack of knowledge extends into other financial aspects of life. Only half (51%) the population know the balance on their credit cards and nearly half (46%) have no idea what interest rates they receive on their savings or are paying on their accounts and debts.

Around 15 per cent of 18 to 24- year-olds think an individual savings account (ISA) is an iPod accessory, and one in 10 reckon it's an energy drink. With rising personal debt levels in Britain, and a lack of long-term savings, better money management seems a pressing issue.

Savings
Sainsbury’s Bank estimates that on a typical monthly basis, 11.7 million people are saving less in July 2007 than they were three months ago, and even more worryingly 6.8 million people are not saving anything at all.

The number of people who save regularly is at the lowest level recorded in two years (46%).

Less than half (43%) of the population are planning for their financial future, with a tenth (11%) of these planners confessing that any plan they have is very vague.

Over one in four (27%) have no savings at all – and a further one in four (25%) have less than £3,000 – meaning that the savings pot of more than half of all households in the UK will last less than three months.

Over 7.5 million people only save money for short-term goals and about 3 million describe themselves as ‘frivolous spenders’ - making purchases based solely on desirability rather than affordability. For every financially aware person there are two frivolous spenders who spend for today with no thought to tomorrow - the buy now, think later culture.

Half the population (52%) could survive financially for just 17 days, should they suffer an unexpected loss of income, according to research by Combined Insurance.