Over half a million Londoners are in problem debt
Our analysis shows that Londoners are more at risk of problem debt than the UK average, regardless of where they live in the capital and relative borough deprivation levels. We estimate over half a million Londoners are in problem debt.
In 2017 the highest proportion (17%) of StepChange clients came from London. These clients are more likely to live in social housing, have rent arrears if they live in deprived London boroughs, and have higher council tax arrears than the UK average.
Our data also shows that our clients from London have more trouble keeping up with paying for the essentials, particularly housing bills, than our UK clients on average.
Our recommendations
Problem debt is a priority issue for London with high economic and social costs. There needs to be more co-ordination at a London-wide level to ensure:
- Earlier signposting, and improved access, to free regulated debt advice
- More investment to ensure Londoners have access to affordable credit
- Co-ordination across London local authorities to promote and share best practice council tax collection procedures
- Co-ordination across London local authorities, housing associations and private sector landlords to identify tenants in financial difficulty and provide support
Download the summary now to read more about our research and recommendations.
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Read our methods and analysis, and references for our research. If you'd like to see data for each London borough, read our debt statistics for individual borough reports.