Household finances may be recovering, John Pollock, chief executive of Legal & General Assurance Society, has said.
He was commenting after the release of the latest Legal & General MoneyMood survey, which has shown that 1m fewer households are struggling with finances compared to a year ago.
However one in eight homes was still struggling to make ends meet in the fourth quarter of 2014.
According to The Money Charity, at the end of September 2014, total household debt in the UK amounted to £1.459tn. One in eight homes is still struggling to make ends meet in the fourth quarter of 2014.
However, from 2013 to 2014 the number of “financially stable” households in the L&G survey has increased from 40 per cent to 47 per cent.
Mr Pollock said: “Two key measures in our latest MoneyMood show finances at home are stronger compared to a year ago.
“Firstly, almost 1.5m more homes say they now have some money left over after paying bills and debts.
“The second indicator is an increase in the amount saved on average each month.
“We hope the improved strength of household finances will eventually mean that more people will be able to return to saving for the long term.”
Adviser view
Robin Keyte, of Somerset-based Keyte Chartered Financial Planners, said: “I can well imagine there might well be high levels of household debt in the South East but it is less in other areas. I would say anecdotally there are fewer clients who are moaning about how hard it is at the moment. We favour reducing debt at the moment given the outlook for rising interest rates next year.”
