One in six people had to borrow money to pay October’s rent or mortgage, according to research conducted for the Debt Advisory Centre.
OnePoll questioned a nationally representative sample of 2,000 adults during November, finding that those in the youngest age group (18-24) were the most likely to have borrowed money to pay their housing costs, with 29 per cent admitting to doing so to avoid missing their payment.
According to the survey, 8 per cent are in arrears with either their rent or their mortgage. Of these 66 per cent were behind by one month, 20 per cent were in arrears by 2-3 months and 14 per cent were more than 3 months in arrears.
Ian Williams, spokesman for DAC, said: “In many cases, people have enough coming in to make their payment but have prioritised other bills – such as credit card or loan repayments. In this case it is important to remember that housing costs should be paid before any unsecured creditors.”
Of the 2,000 strong sample, 636 were in Scotland, and of this section around half that have fallen behind with their rent or mortgage payments admitted that they are more than two months behind, with around the same proportion saying that they are one month in arrears.
The research also found one in six Scots said they paid their rent or mortgage using credit in the previous month.
peter.walker@ft.com
