Money News

One property is repossessed every 10 minutes

Tuesday, 3 March 2009

Writes Hazel Cottrell
hazel.cottrell@consumerchoices.co.uk

Think this sounds bad? It was just one of the many depressing statistics released by Credit Action yesterday.

One property is being repossessed every 10 minutes and this is likely to get worse, according to the latest statistics from money education charity Credit Action (www.creditaction.org.uk).

It reported that 144 properties were repossessed in the last three months to September 2008 and said the Council of Mortgage Lenders estimates this will increase to approximately 205 a day throughout 2009 (one every seven minutes).

Other statistics in this month’s debt report include the following:

• One person in 33 is expected to lose their job in 2009
• One person is declared bankrupt or insolvent every 4.5 minutes
• 33,600 applications for credit have been turned down every day during the past six months
• Average household debt, excluding mortgages, is £21,750 (based on households that have some form of unsecured loan)
• The amount of interest paid daily on debts in the UK is £209million.

According to the report, total UK personal debt stood at £1,457billion at the end of January 2009. While definitely still growing, the speed at which this debt is growing has slowed. In January 2008 personal debt grew by £1million every 5.3 minutes, but this January it only grew by £1million every 40.6 minutes.

Chris Eagle, commercial manager at CreditChoices.co.uk said: “The fact that the growth of UK personal debt is slowing could be seen as a positive, but unfortunately rather than suggesting people are paying back more of their debt, it reflects the lack of credit, including mortgages, that’s currently available.

“If you are struggling with debt, it’s essential you get help now. Visit our debt centre for helpful articles and top tips or contact one of the organisations below for free, independent debt advice.”

• The Citizens Advice Bureau (www.citizensadvice.org.uk) offers confidential advice by phone and face-to-face. Visit the website to find your local CAB
• The National Debtline (www.nationaldebtline.co.uk) provides information and resources for coping with debt on their website as well as a helpline on 0808 808 4000
• The Consumer Credit Counselling Service (www.cccs.co.uk) offers advice, support and counselling for anyone who is worried about debt. You can call the helpline free on 0800 138 1111.

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