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1m Britons admit to using credit cards to pay their mortgage
Wednesday 13th January 2010The worrying trend of Britons using credit to meet their monthly mortgage and rental payments looks to be continuing, according to a new survey.
Recent results from a study, taken by housing charity Shelter, have shown that as many as one million households have used their credit cards to pay their mortgages during the last year.
This figure represents 6% of homes in the UK, with the charity adding that the problem is growing amongst the middle classes.
Over the past year the number of households from lower social groups who had to pay their rent and mortgage with plastic jumped to 8%. The figure for middle class households stood at 4%.
Shelter have called these figures a “shocking discovery” and warned that in some cases if people were to default on their credit card payments, their homes could be repossessed.
Last year saw a huge number of lenders trying to secure charging orders from the courts, turning unsecured debts into debts secured on the borrower’s home.
Since 2000, there has been a 722% increase in the number of charging order applications made by unsecured lenders, according to figures from Citizens Advice.
Charities have urged people who are having trouble keeping up with their mortgage and rent payments to seek expert debt advice as soon as possible.
Kay Boycott, the director of policy and campaigns for Shelter, said: “If people are already struggling to the extent that they fear losing their home, increasing credit card debt cannot be the answer.”
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