A Savings And Resilience Barometer For Great Britain - Look At Your Debts Hard

5th July 2023

If you have debt and little savings loans and mortgages and credit card debt then you should read this and start taking action if you can. For many this will mean stop spending and pay off the credit cards and try to make sure you have three months savings ready for further mortgage pain etc.

Richard Murphy published this - Looming debt crisis will lay waste to our finances

One in four of us are spending more than we're earning (26%), so we risk running up debts.

Higher income households are borrowing more as a percentage of their income - and have a bigger share of their borrowing on variable rates - so they're more vulnerable to changing rates. Almost a third (31%) score ‘poor' or ‘very poor' for their control of debt.

They're also more likely to have a mortgage - and be hit by runaway remortgage rates. Overall, over the next 12 months, 26% of mortgage holders will be at risk of arrears.

230,000 of those people who are at risk of arrears have cash savings that cover less than three months of essential spending - so are classed as being at high risk.

470,000 mortgage borrowers in this position also have unsustainable spending, so are at critical risk. This is up 220,000 from the end of 2021.

This time next year our disposable income will be 2.5% lower than at the end of the pandemic.

630,000 people will be spending more than they're earning, have no assets and already have some borrowing - putting them at real risk of arrears.

Figures are from the latest cycle of the HL Savings & Resilience Barometer, released 3 July 2023.

Hargreave Lansdown Article HERE

If you do not already then begin seriously budgeting each month as more interest rate rises may be on the way in August and later this year until Inflation comes down.