Home > UK Debt Statistics

UK Debt Statistics

UK Debt Statistics Report:

  • Outstanding mortgage lending stood at £1,584.8 billion at the end of April 2022, an increase of £62.3 billion from a year earlier.
  • The average UK house price in May 2022 was £289,099, rising by 3.2% in the three months to May 2022 and by 10.5% in the year to May 2022.
  • The average house price for first-time buyers in Great Britain was £234,468 in April 2022, an annual increase of 11.8% and a monthly change of 1.1%.
  • Private rental prices in the UK rose by 2.8% in the 12 months to May 2022, with the median rent in England being £795 and £1,450 in London.
  • In 2020-2021, 34.7% of households owned their home outright, 30.1% had a mortgage, 18.5% rented privately, and 16.6% paid a social rent.
  • At the end of Q1 2022, there were 152,929 mortgage loan accounts with arrears of more than 1.5% of the current loan balance, a 10.4% decrease from Q1 2021.
  • UK Finance estimated that 580 homeowner properties were taken into possession in the UK in Q1 2022, up from 200 in Q1 2021, approaching pre-pandemic levels.

uk debt statistics

Daily Debt Statistics

  • The UK population increased by approximately 777 individuals daily from 2019 to 2020.
  • Average daily household expenditure on utilities (water, electricity, and gas) in the UK amounts to £4.15.
  • From March to May 2022, 342 people were declared insolvent or bankrupt daily in England and Wales, equating to one person every 4 minutes and 13 seconds.
  • In April 2022, Northern Ireland experienced 4.6 insolvencies daily, while Scotland saw 21.0 insolvencies daily in the three months leading up to March 2022.
  • England and Wales’ Citizens Advice Bureaux handled 2,030 debt-related issues daily in the year ending May 2022.
  • Between January and March 2022, 6.4 UK properties were repossessed daily, or one every 3 hours and 43 minutes.
  • Daily decrease of UK mortgages with over 2.5% arrears in the remaining balance was 22.8 in the year ending March 2022.
  • The number of unemployed individuals in the UK decreased by 973 daily in the twelve months leading up to April 2022.
  • 629 people reported redundancy daily from February to April 2022.
  • Net lending to UK individuals and housing associations increased by £190.3 million daily in April 2022.
  • UK government debt rose by £554 million daily in the three months up to May 2022.
  • Borrowers paid £126 million in interest daily in April 2022.
  • The average daily cost of raising a child for a couple in the UK is £24.44, from birth until 18 years of age.
  • Lone parents in the UK spend an average of £29.50 per day on raising a child.
  • Daily mortgage possession claims and orders in England and Wales from January to March 2022 were 32.1 and 25.5, respectively.
  • During the same period, 211 landlord possession claims and 144.2 landlord possession orders were made daily.

Current Cost of Living Crisis in the UK

  • 8 out of 10 workers who worked from home during the pandemic plan to continue hybrid working after restrictions lifted, with the proportion of hybrid workers increasing from 13% in February 2022 to 24% in May 2022, while exclusive remote workers decreased from 22% to 14% (ONS).
  • Families with two children face an estimated 13% annual increase in costs, outpacing the official inflation rate of 9.1%, leading to approximately £400 more in monthly expenses for essentials like food, rent, and heating (Joseph Rowntree Foundation, Loughborough University).
  • 63% of ethnic minority individuals experienced a negative impact on their cost of living due to the pandemic, compared to 59% of all UK adults (LifeSearch Health, Wealth and Happiness Index).
  • 46% of people receiving assistance from Citizen’s Advice have a negative budget, meaning their essential spending surpasses their income (Citizen’s Advice).
  • 74% of adults reported their mental health being negatively affected in the past two years, with 28% attributing it to the rising cost of living, followed by 27% citing Covid restrictions (LifeSearch Health, Wealth and Happiness Index).

Personal Debt in the UK

  • As of April 2022, total personal debt in the UK reached £1,786.6 billion, with £1,584.8 billion in secured mortgage debt and £201.9 billion in unsecured consumer debt, including £60.9 billion in credit card debt.
  • UK personal debt increased by £67.1 billion from April 2021 to April 2022, resulting in an additional £1,269.14 per adult.
  • Average total debt per household (including mortgages) stood at £64,286, and per adult at £33,780, or 105.3% of average earnings, as of April 2022.
  • Over a 12-month period, the UK’s total interest payments on personal debt amounted to £46,133 million, averaging £126 million per day.
  • Office for Budget Responsibility’s March 2022 forecast predicts household debt to rise from £2,019 billion in 2020 to £2,447 billion in 2025, making the average total household debt £85,906.
  • Consumer credit debt reached £201.9 billion by April 2022, with outstanding credit card debt at £60.9 billion.
  • Total net lending to individuals and housing associations increased by £5.7 billion in April 2022, with net mortgage lending rising by £4.6 billion and net consumer credit lending increasing by £593 million.
  • In Q1 2022, lenders wrote off £773 million, including £270 million in credit card debt.
  • Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales dealt with 2,030 debt issues daily in the year to May 2022.
  • In Scotland, Citizens Advice Scotland gave 79,122 pieces of advice in April 2022, with debt advice comprising 10% of the total.
  • In Northern Ireland, Advice NI’s Debt Action service handled 357 cases involving debt issues in May 2022, covering £1.6 million of debt.
  • StepChange Debt Charity assisted 12,500 new clients in April 2022, with 64% having credit card debt, 46% with personal loan debt, 33% with overdrafts, and 35% with catalogue debt.
  • 31,435 individual insolvencies occurred in England and Wales from March to May 2022, equivalent to 342 people per day or one person every 4 minutes and 13 seconds.
  • In Northern Ireland, there were 144 individual insolvencies in May 2022, or 4.6 per day.
  • In Scotland, there were 1,894 personal insolvencies from January to March 2022, or 21.0 per day.
  • 2,494 Consumer County Court Judgements (CCJs) were issued daily in England and Wales from January to March 2022, while in Northern Ireland, there were 10 consumer debt judgements per day, and in Scotland, 43 consumer debt decrees were registered daily.

Mortgages, Rent, and Housing

  • Mortgage debt in the UK increased to £1,584.8 billion at the end of April 2022, up £62.3 billion from a year earlier.
  • The average outstanding mortgage for households with mortgage debt was £144,332 in April 2022.
  • Average mortgage interest rates were 2.05% at the end of April 2022, with new loans having an average interest rate of 1.83%.
  • Gross mortgage lending in Q1 2022 was £76.9 billion, 7.5% lower than the same quarter in the previous year.
  • House prices in the UK increased by 11.2% in May 2022, with the average price reaching £289,099.
  • First-time buyer average house price was £234,468 in April 2022, with a typical deposit of 23% of the purchase cost or £53,928.
  • Private rental prices in the UK increased by 2.8% in the 12 months to May 2022, with the median rent in England at £795.
  • The percentage of outright homeowners was 34.7%, while 30.1% were mortgagors, 18.5% rented privately, and 16.6% paid social rent.
  • Mortgage loan accounts with arrears of more than 1.5% of the current loan balance were 152,929 at the end of Q1 2022, down 10.4% from Q1 2021.
  • There were 580 homeowner property possessions in Q1 2022, up from 200 in Q1 2021, approaching pre-pandemic levels.

Arrears and Repossessions in the UK

  • At the end of Q1 2022, there were 152,929 mortgage loan accounts with arrears of more than 1.5% of the current loan balance, representing a 1.1% decrease from the previous quarter and a 10.4% decrease from Q1 2021.
  • In Q1 2022, 49.3% of payments due for loans in arrears were received.
  • UK Finance reported that 75,670 (0.85%) of homeowner mortgages had arrears equivalent to at least 2.5% of the outstanding mortgage balance in Q1 2022, marking a 5.0% decrease from the previous quarter.
  • Over the last year, mortgages in arrears have decreased by an average of 22.8 per day.
  • UK Finance estimated that 580 homeowner properties were taken into possession in Q1 2022, up from 200 in Q1 2021, which equates to 6.4 properties per day or one property every three hours and forty-three minutes.
  • In England and Wales, between January and March 2022, an average of 32.1 mortgage possession claims were issued, and 25.5 mortgage possession orders were made daily.
  • During the same period, 211 landlord possession claims were issued, and 144.2 landlord possession orders were made daily.
  • Compared to Q4 2019, mortgage possession claims fell by 54%, orders by 48%, landlord possession claims by 25%, and landlord possession orders by 37%. This decrease was due to the forbearance action by the Government and the FCA in response to the Covid-19 pandemic.
  • Possession claims and orders increased in Q2 and Q3 2021 from the low levels observed in mid-2020.

Sources: