Today’s Money and Credit data from the Bank of England shows an increase in mortgage borrowing, but a significant net decline in consumer credit.
Commenting on the trend, StepChange Debt Charity Head of Policy Peter Tutton says:
“The Bank of England data out today shows large net repayments of credit on the part of households, but we shouldn’t make the mistake of thinking that means that household finances aren’t under stress.”
Today we've published our latest monthly report on the trends the charity has been seeing among those seeking debt advice since the onset of the coronavirus crisis.
Key highlights in June:
- We saw around 331,000 website users – well up on a year ago, but users are now looking for broader information with fewer hits on the coronavirus and emergency funding hub pages
- Around 13,000 new clients went through full debt advice – up on previous months, but still lower than a year ago, reflecting the “treading water” status of many households
- Women and those aged under 40 are more likely to cite coronavirus as a reason for their debt
- There is a gradually rising trend in those citing coronavirus as reason for debt – 16% in June, up from 13% in May and 9% in April (based on telephone clients)
- 60% of telephone clients citing coronavirus as reason for debt were employed – against 45% of all clients
The full report is available here.