• The average household debt will increase by £0.43 today (it grew by £11.11 a day in January 2008)
• 390 people today will be declared insolvent or bankrupt. This is equivalent to 1 person every 3.69 minutes
• Citizen Advice Bureaus dealt with 9,500 new debt problems every day in England and Wales
• The average cost of raising a child from birth to the age of 21 is £26 a day.
• 1,000 people are seeking some form of formal debt rescheduling every working day.
• 230,137 unsolicited telephone calls made to UK consumers daily by debt management and personal loan companies
• In the last 12 months consumers saved an average of £2.76 every day
• 2,000 Consumer County Court Judgements (CCJs) were issued every day in the first 3 months of 2009
• 126 properties were repossessed every day during 2009
• Unemployment increased by 1,227 people every day during 12 months to end December 2009.
• 1,841 people reported they had become redundant every day during 3 months to end December 2009.
• 167 young people (18 – 24s) have become a NEET (not in education, employment or training) every day during the last 12 months.
• £384,900,000 is the amount that the Government Public Sector net debt (PSDN) will grow today (equivalent to £4,455 per second).
• £81,530,000 is the interest the Government has to pay each day on the UKs net debt of £848.5bn. This is projected to rise to £121.6m a day (£44.4bn) in 2010 – 2011 financial year.
• 219 mortgage possession claims will be issued and 185 mortgage possession orders will be made today
• 363 landlord possession claims will be issued and 244 landlord possession orders will be made today.
• The UK population is projected to grow by 1,100 people a day over the next decade
• 21.9m plastic card purchase transactions will be made today with a total value of £1.05bn.
• 8.1m cash withdrawals will be made today with a total value of £530m
• The average car will cost £15.13 to run today

The UK economy has exited recession, after figures showed the economy had grown by 0.3% in the last three months of 2009. The economy had previously contracted for six consecutive quarters - the longest period since quarterly figures were first recorded in 1955.

The Ernst & Young Item Club winter 2010 economic outlook for business warns that the UK faces a difficult decade of adjustment, starting with a lacklustre recovery. GDP growth will struggle to reach 1% this year, with the first half particularly weak. Growth picks up to 2.5% in 2011 and 3% in prospect for 2012.

There were 5.9 million working age benefit claimants at August 2009. This is an increase of 663,000 in the year.

UK base rate fell to a 315 year low when the official bank rate was reduced to 0.5% on 5th March 2009.

There were 4,566 compulsory liquidations and creditors’ voluntary liquidations in total in England and Wales in the fourth quarter of 2009 (on a seasonally adjusted basis). This was a decrease of 1.1% on the same period a year ago. In the twelve months ending Q4 2009, approximately 1 in 114 active companies (or 0.9%) went into liquidation. Additionally, there were 1,465 other corporate insolvencies in the fourth quarter of 2009 (not seasonally adjusted) comprising 397 receiverships, 849 administrations and 219 company voluntary arrangements. In total these represented a decrease of 39.7% on the same period a year ago.

In January 2010 the public sector net debt (PSND) was £848.5bn, equivalent to 59.9% of gross domestic product and equivalent to ~ £33,671 per household. PSND has increased £140.5bn in 12 months (equivalent to a growth of £4,455 per second or £5,575 per household). Net borrowing for the month was £4.3bn. The interest paid on this debt by the Government in April 2009 to January 2010 was £24.8bn which is equivalent to ~ £1,181 per household / annum.

According to the UK 2009 Pre Budget report the public sector net debt (PSND), including unrealised losses from financial sector interventions, increases over the period to 2014-15 to £1,473bn (£58,920 per household).

The number of unemployed people in the three months to December  2009 was 2.46 million (7.8%), down 3,000 from the previous three months and up 448,000 (1,227 a day) over the year. 168,000 people (1,841 a day) reported they had become redundant in the three months down 36,000 from the previous three months and down 94,000 from a year earlier.

The number of people unemployed for more than 12 months increased by 37,000 over the quarter to reach 663,000, the highest figure since the three months to September 1997. The inactivity rate was 21.3% and there were 8.08 million working age inactive people.

The claimant count in January 2010 was 1.64 million, up 23,500 on the previous month and up 381,800 on a year earlier. There is a gap of 820,000 between the number of people who are currently unemployed and the number of people claiming Jobseeker’s Allowance benefit.

In the year to January, the consumer prices index (CPI) rose by 3.5 per cent, up from 2.9 per cent in December. In the year to January RPI rose by 3.7 per cent, up from 2.4 per cent in December. 

New car registrations rose by 29.8% in January to 145,479 units. The market rose for a seventh successive month. The scrappage scheme continued to boost market, accounting for 17.8% of sales, despite return to 17.5% VAT.

UK retail sales values decreased – 0.7% on a like-for-like basis and rose 1.2% on a total basis, from January 2009.

Citizens Advice Bureaux in England and Wales are currently dealing with 9,500 new debt problems and 8,200 new benefit problems every working day. Debt and benefit issues combined now account for over 60% of the CAB workload. Fuelled by the impact of the recession, enquiries in these areas are currently growing at an annual rate of 24%, with CAB advisers handling 2.27 million debt problems and almost 2 million benefits problems in 2009.

Research from moneysupermarket.com has found that 10% of British adults (5m) are permanently overdrawn. In addition to this, a further 12% drop into the red five times or more a year.

The Insolvency Service said there were 35,574 individual insolvencies in England and Wales (390 people a day or 1 every 3.69 minutes) in the fourth quarter of 2009 on a seasonally adjusted basis. This was an increase of 1.0% on the previous quarter and an increase of 24.9% on the same period a year ago. These are currently at the highest levels on record.

Personal insolvencies were 134,142 in 2009. R3 said that even these record personal insolvencies are just the tip of a very worrying personal debt iceberg.  What lies below the waterline is a much larger group who are sadly not facing up to their debt problems. R3’s research indicates that around 500,000 people are on a Debt Management Plan (DMP), a further half a million (574,000) have contacted their creditors informally for help after struggling with their debts, and around one million people are struggling without seeking and form of help. 

Mortgage lenders took 10,200 properties into possession in the fourth quarter of 2009 - 13% lower than in the third quarter, and 2% down on the fourth quarter of 2008, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. In 2009 as a whole the total number of possessions was 46,000 which was 15% higher than the 40,000 in 2008.This equates to 126 properties being repossessed every day or 1 property being repossessed every 11.4 minutes.  

In terms of payment difficulties, 188,300 mortgages ended the year with arrears equivalent to at least 2.5% of the outstanding mortgage balance. This was 3% lower than at the end of the third quarter, but still 3% higher than at the end of 2008.

The FSA estimate that at the end of Q3 there were 395,000 loan accounts in reportable arrears (> 1.5% of current loan balance), a decrease of 2% from Q2 but a rise of 16% from Q3 2008. At the end of Q3, loans in arrears represented 3.61% of the value of the loan book, up from 2.93% a year earlier.

Saturday 20th February marks this year's Debt Freedom Day. As a nation we will spend the first 50 days of 2010 just to earn enough money to pay off the interest on our debts according to unbiased.co.uk. This means that on 20th February we haven't even started re-paying the actual debt itself!
Research for the OFT reveals the scale of mass-marketed scams in Britain, which arrive by post, email, text, phone or the internet and aim to mislead people to part with their cash. The survey found that around one in 11 (just over 4m) adults say they have responded to a scam at some time in their life, of whom nearly a third lost money. One in 25 (about 2m) adults have responded to a scam in the last 12 months. Around half (49%) of those scammed have lost more than £50 in total, with five per cent losing more than £5000.

Research from Post Office Christmas Club has revealed that for more than 14m people (29%) the cost of Christmas shopping, entertaining and socialising has resulted in increased stress over finances. Worryingly, of the almost 5m people who had to increase their debts to cover Christmas, over a third (37%) are going to have to make cut backs on essentials such as food and utility bills in order to repay debts.

Scottish Widows estimates that 11.3m UK households (44%) are dependent on more than one salary to cover bills. Of the 6.6m UK households with dependent children, 4m are reliant on two or more salaries (60%).

CCCS expects more people to come to it for help over the next year as calls to its free debt helpline have risen throughout 2009. The debt charity said that expected public sector redundancies in addition to the growth in private sector cutbacks will be some of the causes of people being unable to repay their debts in 2010. Calls to the free CCCS debt helpline went up by 25 percent in 2009, with the helpline receiving 86,573 calls in the fourth quarter compared to 69,431 for the first quarter. This increase reflects a longer trend which saw calls go up by over 68,000 from 2008 to 2009, with the helpline receiving 267,180 calls in 2008 and 335,323 in 2009.

Ofgem's quarterly social obligations report highlights a 13% increase in the number of electricity customers entering into new debt repayment arrangements and a 21% increase in those making similar arrangements for gas in Q3 compared with Q2 2009. Average level of debt is 20% higher year on year (Q3 2009 compared with Q3 2008).

The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey estimated that one in ten of all households (2.5m) were in arrears on at least one credit commitment in 2006/2008. This increased to 13% among households with any borrowing commitments, that is, a mortgage or non-mortgage borrowing. It was higher still among those with any non-mortgage borrowing, whether or not they also had a mortgage (17%).

Research from Shelter and Money Advice Trust shows that a massive 1.3m low-income households are struggling or falling behind with their finances and many feel under mental and emotional strain. Four in ten (39%), equivalent to around 600,000 households, feel their debts are harming their physical and mental well-being, rising to almost 50% in households with children

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Research from moneysupermarket.com has discovered the depth of reliance Brits have on credit cards. The research found that one in five of us carry more than three credit cards and that 17% of credit card holders use their card at least once a day, with a further 28% using their card at least once a week. The research also discovered a worrying trend in that over 14 million Brits are using their credit cards to fund day to day expenses.

R3 estimate that 78% of insolvency practitioners believe that consumers view spending on store cards as less ‘real’ than spending in cash and so unwittingly go over budget.

The latest Post Office Consumer Credit Report. reveals that more than 12m adults (38%) intend to use their credit card in January for daily purchases such as grocery shopping - an 8% increase on last year - reflecting the extent to which the recession impacted on people's finances during 2009.

Shelter estimate that more than one million householders have used credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the last 12 months.

According to the BBA the proportion of balances bearing interest fell, by 0.2% to 66.2%.

Total credit card debt in January 2010 was £61.4bn. The UK collective credit limit on credit cards is £158bn, which is an average credit card limit of £5,129 per person.

PricewaterhouseCoopers in their precious plastic 2010 report estimate that the average borrowing per credit card has increased by 5% and has surpassed £1,000 for the first time.

The average interest rate on credit card lending is currently 18.38%, which is 17.88% above base rate (0.5%). Moneyfacts research shows that despite bank base rate being at an all time low, personal loan rates stand at a nine year high.

There were 146.3m debit, credit or charge cards in circulation in the UK at the end of 2008 according to APACS. An average 254 plastic card purchases were made in the UK every second during Q3 2009 using debit and credit cards (equal to £12,367 /second). 94 cash withdrawals were made every second (equal to £6,233 / second) from UK’s 63,400 cash machines during Q3 2009.

There are more credit cards in the UK than people according to APACS. At the end of 2008 there were 71.3m credit and charge cards in the UK compared with around 60 million people in the country.

The proportion of 18-24 year olds not in education, employment or training (NEET) at the end Q4 2009 was 812,000 (17.4%). The proportion of 16-18 year NEETs stood at 177,000 (9.3%) at the end of Q4 2009. The total of 16 – 24 classed as NEETS now stands at 895,000.

AXA estimate that a fifth of 18-24 year-olds drink alcohol to take their mind off their financial concerns.

The unemployment rate for 18 to 24 year olds decreased by 13,000 (-1.8%) on the quarter and increased 101,000 (16.2%) in the last 12 months to reach 725,000. This means that 17.6% of all 18 to 24 year olds are unemployed. 304,000 (42%) have been unemployed for longer than 6 months.

Research from Sainsbury’s Finance highlights that over half of undergraduate students (53%) in the UK are to be given financial assistance by their parents to see them through the financial burden of university.  The average amount of parental financial support given to undergraduates is £8,070 per student during their university life. 

The UK's largest survey of student finance, published by Push.co.uk, reveals that students who started at university last year can expect to owe nearly £21,200 by the time they leave and new students should reckon on at least £2,000 more than that.

By 2011, there will be almost 18 million people in the UK who are over 55. Aviva's Real Retirement Report reveals that while many over 55s have significant financial concerns, those approaching retirement have finances in far worse shape than those either aged 65 - 74 or over 75. Pre-retirees (55 - 64) have the lowest savings (£8,593), lowest incidences of home ownership (76%) and largest average mortgages (£16,694).   Two fifths (40%) of pre-retirees save nothing per month and one fifth (20%) still owes more than £75,000 on their mortgage.

Older consumers have grown into a market force to be reckoned with‚ says Age Concern and Help the Aged‚ as new figures reveal the amount of money spent annually by people over the age of 65 in the UK is set to hit the £100 billion mark.

There are currently 398,000 elderly people in residential care. In the UK the average annual fee for a single room in a private residential home is £24,492, and for a nursing home it is £35,100.

The average equivalised income of retired households is 61% of that of non-retired households.

MGM Advantage estimates that the average retired household where the main occupant is aged 65-74 needs to find an extra £429 a year to maintain the standard of living they enjoyed 12 months ago

In recent years, CCCS has seen a steady increase in the average age of clients coming to it for help with debts, with the proportion of clients aged 60 and over doubling from 5% in 2004 to 10% in 2008. These clients tend to have higher debt levels and regularly undergo income fluctuations due to changes in circumstance, illness or retirement.

At August 2009, there were 12.6m people of state pension age claiming a DWP benefit, an increase of 243,000 since August 2008. Of these, 66% were claiming State Pension (SP) only.

The proportion of people aged 55 and above planning to work beyond the state pension age has jumped to 71%, compared to 40% in a CIPD survey two years ago suggesting that the recession has shrunk pension pots, savings, investments and house values.

The number of people aged 50+ out of work is 395‚000‚ which is an increase of 5.7% over the last quarter and an increase of 27.7% (86‚000) over last year. The number of people over state pension age in work continues to rise – with an increase of 10,000 in the three months to the end of December  to 1.41 million, a rise of 68,000 (5.1%) over the previous year.

On average someone who requires care in a residential care home may expect to pay in the region of £25,000 per annum.

There are more people of state pensionable age than under-16s. There were 11.5 million people aged under 16 in mid-2008 compared to 11.8 million people above state pensionable age.

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According to the Department for Communities and Local Government (DCLG) the average house price in the UK in December 2009 now stands at £200,307 (£206,694 in England).

UK annual house price inflation increased by 2.9%.
Annual house price inflation in London increased by 4.9%.

The average Mortgage Interest rate is 3.67%.

Council of Mortgage Lenders research estimates that the number of borrowers currently in negative equity (the vast majority of whom will be paying their mortgage in full and on time every month) has fallen to 650,000, compared with around 900,000 in April.

Research by The Co-operative Bank Mortgages reveals that almost two thirds of mortgage holders (62%) are aiming to be mortgage-free by the time they reach 50 years of age.

The English Housing Survey (EHS) found that the number of owner occupied households fell from a peak of 14.8m in   2005 and 2006 to 14.6 million in 2008-09. Over half (59%) of all private renters expected to eventually buy a home in the UK compared to only around a quarter (27%) of social renters.

According to the Halifax house prices recorded their biggest increase in the latest decade with a real rise (adjusted to allow for general price inflation by applying the retail price index (RPI)) of 62% during the 2000s; marginally ahead of the 61% increase in the 1980s. The worst performing decade for house prices was the 1990s when prices fell by 22% in real terms. Owner-occupation in the UK has increased by 25% from 43% in 1961 to 68% in 2008. The biggest rise in owner-occupation occurred in the 1980s following the introduction of the Right to Buy scheme.

Homeowners rate buying a house as more stressful than having a child. House buying tops the table of ‘most stressful life experiences' with one in four (24%) homeowners finding it the most demanding and stressful thing they have done, according to research from Unbiased.co.uk.

Homeowners in England and Wales saw a 20% drop in the proportion of their take-home pay spent on monthly mortgage repayments in 2009, according to the latest mortgage affordability research released by Woolwich.

The ONS Wealth and Assets Survey estimated total wealth (including private pension wealth) in Great Britain in 2006/08 at £9.0 trillion. Property wealth (net) and private pension wealth each accounted for 39% of total wealth in 2006/08 (£3.5 trillion), while financial wealth (net) and physical wealth each contributed 11% (£1.0 trillion).

Over two-thirds of households in Great Britain owned their home in 2006/08; 32% of households did not own their home, 30% owned their home outright and 38% were buying with the help of a mortgage.

Gross mortgage lending declined to an estimated £9.1 billion in January, a 32% fall from £13.4 billion in December and a 21% fall from £11.5 billion in January 2009, according to the Council of Mortgage Lenders. This is the lowest monthly total since February 2000 (£7.9 billion) and the lowest January total since 2000 (£7.4 billion).

Nationwide said the price of a typical UK property fell by a seasonally adjusted 1.0% month-on-month in February, ending a strong run of nine consecutive monthly increases. The annual rate of price inflation still managed to increase from 8.6% to 9.2% year-on-year,

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) said that the seasonally adjusted net balance of surveyors reporting rising rather than falling prices over the last three months was 32%. There were an average of 18.6 completed sales per surveyor during the last 3 months.

Rightmove said average national asking prices increased by £7,137 (3.2%) this month and they estimate national average asking prices standing still during 2010.

According to the NAEA the number of house-hunters registered per branch increased from 251 in December to 291 in January. The number of sales agreed per branch increased from an average of five (4.9) in December to six (5.7) in January and the average number of properties available for sale per branch decreased slightly from 59 in December to 55 in January.

House purchase mortgage approval numbers in January were 35,083 which were 37.8% higher than a year ago and 17.5% lower than 2 years ago. The average loan approved for house purchase in January was £139,100, some 14.2% higher than a year earlier.

Existing home sales across the United States (including single-family, townhomes, condominiums and co-ops) decreased 7.2% over last month but rose 11.5% year on year in January 2010. The average price remained year on year at $164,700. RealtyTrac® said there were a total of 315,716 foreclosure filings — default notices, auction sale notices and bank repossessions — were reported on  U.S. properties in January 2010, a 10% decrease in total properties from last month and a 15% increase in total properties from December 2009. The report also shows that one in 409 of all U.S. housing units received at least one foreclosure filing in January 2010.

The average house price in the UK in December 2009 for first time buyers now stands at £149,699 which is an annual increase of 6.8%.

The Council of Mortgage Lenders (CML) estimate that the capital and interest payments for a recent typical first-time buyer would represent about 29% of take-home income. The average first-time buyer loan was £116,465.

The number of landlords with arrears of more than 1.5% of the balance stayed the same in the fourth quarter of 2009 at 20,700, but is 37% down from the 32,900 seen in the same period the year before. The number of buy-to-let properties taken into possession in the fourth quarter fell by 25% from quarter three but rose 9% from quarter four 2008.

Paragon Mortgages' Trends research reveals that 10% of landlords want to expand their portfolio in the first three months of 2010. Of those looking to purchase, terraced housing is by far the most popular choice of property.

Surveyors expect to see rent rises in the New Year as the number of rental properties coming onto the market fell for the first time since January 2008, according to the latest RICS Lettings Survey.

The number of households without bank accounts has been cut by half. The latest report on access to banking by the Financial Inclusion Taskforce shows that the number has fallen from 2 million in 2003/04 to less than 900,000 in 2007/08. The proportion of low-income households without a bank account has fallen sharply in recent years, from 20–25 per cent in the mid-1990s to 4 per cent in 2007–08

In a disturbing reflection of attitudes towards planning and financial literacy in the UK, more than a quarter of Brits are relying on winning the Lottery to help improve their financial situation. This is compared to just one in 20 who will seek professional help to improve their finances, according to a YouGov survey commissioned for Financial Planning Week 2009. The survey also found that:

• More than half of Brits said they were struggling to some degree to keep up with bills and credit commitments at the moment. However, on a positive note, only five per cent were actually falling behind.
• 43% of people often or sometimes struggle to make it to the next payday.
• Only a quarter of people (26%) have a budget they follow regularly
• Only 31% have made a Will, with 49% of those without one saying it’s because they’ve just not got round to doing it yet

 

63% of the population are more aware of their finances and are making an increased effort to look after their accounts as a result of the credit crunch, according to research by NS&I.

The annual survey from insurance and investment group LV= on the Cost of a Child, now in its seventh year, shows that, for the first time, parents are likely to have to shell out more than £201,000 on raising a child from birth to the age of 21. This equates to £9,610 a year, £800 a month or £26 a day.

Gocompare.com research revealed that cat and dog owners spend on average £676.92 a year on each pet. The biggest outlay is for food, which costs on average £314.40 a year for each animal, followed by trips to the vet - £241.68, while the average annual bill for bedding, treats, toys and clothes comes in at a surprising £120.84.

Britons believe their average outgoings to be £892 per month. The reality is they're spending £486 more than this at £1378 per month according to the Reality Gap Report, commissioned by Bright Grey. If push came to shove, four in 10 people (43%) think they could use their savings to cover the bills if they lost their income source but the report reveals 38% of the UK's working population could not survive beyond one month on their savings alone.

The Office of National Statistics estimates that real household disposable income rose by 1.2% in the Q3 2009 following a 1.7% increase in Q2 2009. Real household disposable income rose by 5.2% when compared with the corresponding quarter of 2008.

The average new family car now costs £5,523 annually to keep on the road, equating to £106 per week or 46p per mile.

Weddingplan estimates that couples looking to get married in 2009 can expect to pay a huge £21,089 on their big day.

Research from Aviva estimates that without further borrowing, the average British household could get their hands on only £914 of disposable cash, less than two weeks of the average weekly household expenditure of £471. One in four (24%) of British households say they could only access £100 without further borrowing.

The average monthly amount saved per head across the population in 2009 was £83.87 according to the NS&I’s Quarterly Savings Survey. The average amount saved as a percentage of income was 6.06% and the percentage of the Great British population regularly saving during 2009 was 47%.

Research from Abbey Savings has highlighted that over one in four (28%) British parents with young children have no savings or investments to use in times of difficulty or to use as a nest egg for their children's future. Indeed a further 20% of these parents have less than £1000 to fall back on.