UK debt crisis

macaque_2

It was also found that outstanding personal debt in the UK reached a total of £1.451 trillion at the end of November 2011, with £173 million being paid daily in interest alone during that month.
Based on November’s figures, the UK's total interest repayments on personal debt over a 12 month period would be £63.1 billion.
“Our ‘day in the life' statistics show the sheer scale of the financial problems faced in the UK and illustrate the numerous ways in which we are all vulnerable to the economic downturn,” said Michelle Highman, CEO of Credit Action.
Debt advice groups and organisations continued to see a rise in cases. The Citizens Advice Bureau in England and Wales dealt with 8,652 new debt problems every working day during the year leading up to September 2011.
The research also revealed the average amount owed by households in the UK. The report showed that in November 2011 household debt stood at £55,816, including mortgages.

http://www.moneyexpert.com/financial-news/none/800580682/britishindividualdebtremainshigh/article.aspx

RenovationMan

I'm always amazed when I see that the total household debt INCLUDING MORTGAGE is only £55,816. It's so low.

My own total household debt is currently £250k including mortgage. :eek:

wotsthat

I particulary like the way credit action present their stats. Every month is like a snapshot in time.

They don't seem to like to present their data plotted over time. You'd think they were trying not to show any context and use big scary numbers to frighten people.

nickj_2

i thought the press made a big deal when it crashed thru the £1triilion mark a few years ago , have we learnt nothing ?

CLAPTON

although it doesn't give the figure in that article, the average unsecure debt per household is about 8k
given there must be a lot of people with no debt whatsoever, there must be some pretty horrendous unsecured debts around

DervProf

RenovationMan wrote: »

I'm always amazed when I see that the total household debt INCLUDING MORTGAGE is only £55,816. It's so low.

My own total household debt is currently £250k including mortgage. :eek:

As it's an average figure, I am not really suprised by it. My immediate reaction is that it seems quite a high figure, but it seems about right, considering there are households, such as yours, with relatively large debts and others with no debts.

I'll add that I am suprised that the total outstanding amount of debt doesn't seem to have fallem much, considering the low interest rates and lower amount of credit availability.

Thrugelmir

RenovationMan wrote: »

I'm always amazed when I see that the total household debt INCLUDING MORTGAGE is only £55,816. It's so low.

Easier to get ones head round than the annualised £63 billion in interest cost per annum.

Thrugelmir

DervProf wrote: »

I'll add that I am suprised that the total outstanding amount of debt doesn't seem to have fallem much, considering the low interest rates and lower amount of credit availability.

Net mortgage lending did fall in quarters 2 & 3 last year. So maybe we seeing the peak and a plateauing off before the long slow reduction.

nickj_2

i know 2 or 3 ftb's who have an interest only mortgage and have no way of paying the capital back .... it's going to take a long time to unwind

wotsthat

They do say that at the end of November the average mortgage rate was 3.36%.

Thrugelmir

wotsthat wrote: »

They do say that at the end of November the average mortgage rate was 3.36%.

Is that the rate people are actually paying though? Or just a mean average across all lenders.

All the old Northern Rock book sitting with NRAM has a minimum rate of 4.79% (SVR)