Consumer debt in the UK is currently above £1.5 trillion. Insolvency numbers in England and Wales crossed 100,000 last year. The economy slump is pushing people deeper into poverty and the restrained access to credit isn't helping either. So far, the year has been a nightmare for most citizens. Running a household is proving to be a struggle, with electricity and gas rates touching all time highs. Surveys reveal that the wealthy are also feeling the heat. Property rates are dipping by the day and mortgages are getting costlier.
Strangely, credit hit UK is still cold to the idea of borrowing. Not everybody is looking to find a solution to this debt scenario. Attribute it to the measures taken by banks to make lending criteria more stringent or the reluctance to add one more loan to existing ones, the number of people seeking credit isn't as high as expected. The counters of credit companies are therefore wearing a forlorn look. Apparently, 25% of the population is still worried that existing loans will take a long time to be repaid. For 85% of this group, even the arrival of the Christmas season is not a compelling reason to borrow credit. Like one of the articles on BBC mentioned, the irony lies in the fact that UK is “credit hungry” but the lending business is still not taking off.
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