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UK personal debt hits £1.46bn - 01/12/2009

Total UK personal debt at the end of October 2009 stood at £1.46bn, a report from money advice charity Credit Action has revealed.

The charity’s statistics show that the 12-month growth rate of personal debt fell to 0.7 per cent, while total lending in October 2009 rose by £300m and that secured lending increased by £900m, while consumer credit lending fell by a net £600m.

Total secured lending on homes at the end of October 2009 stood at £1.23bn and the 12-month growth rate was unchanged at 0.8 per cent.

Total consumer credit lending to individuals at the end of October 2009 was £228bn and the annual growth rate of consumer credit continued to fall to - 0.1 per cent.

Credit Action said average household debt in the UK is now £9,120 excluding mortgages, but this figure increases to £21,210 if the average is based on the number of households which actually have some form of unsecured loan.

Average household debt in the UK is £58,316 including mortgages and if this is added to the 2009 budget figure for public sector net debt (PSND) expected in 2013-14, then this figure rises to £116,156 per household.

The average owed by every UK adult is £30,208 including mortgages and this is 133 per cent of average earnings. Average outstanding mortgage for the 11.1m households who currently have mortgages now stands at £110,801.

Britain’s interest repayments on personal debt were £65.7bn in the last 12 months. The average interest paid by each household on their total debt is approximately £2,627 each year. According to PricewaterhouseCoopers the average household will need to spend approximately 15 per cent of net income purely to service the interest payments arising from this debt.

Average consumer borrowing via credit cards, motor and retail finance deals, overdrafts and unsecured personal loans has risen to £4,724 per average UK adult at the end of October 2009.

The report also reveals that the Citizen’s Advice Bureau are dealing with 9,300 new debt problems each day and that £180m in interest is being paid across the UK daily, while a property is repossessed every 11.2 minutes.