Are you borrowing to pay your rent or mortgage?

More than one in 20 people used credit to pay their rent or mortgage in February. Are you one of them?

There are very few things more important than the roof over our heads. Whether it’s your own flat you saved for years to put a deposit on, or the family house you rent; home really is where the heart is.

Relying on credit

Unfortunately, many of us feel we have no choice but to borrow in order to pay our rent or mortgage each month. Of course, this bill is probably your biggest monthly outgoing, but it’s also among the most essential, and if you have to rely on credit to pay this it should set alarm bells ringing.

Research* conducted for us recently revealed more than one in 20 UK adults used credit such as a loan or credit card cash advance in order to pay their rent or mortgage this February. While this figure is a worry in itself, what’s even more of a concern is that it is double what it was in August last year**.

In February, people aged between 18 and 34 years old were the most likely to have borrowed to pay for the roof over their heads, while men were nearly twice as likely as women to do so.

Re-prioritising

There are all sorts of reasons why you can find yourself in a position where you have to use credit so you can pay your rent or mortgage, and one of these might be that you feel it’s more important to make your repayments on any high interest debts you have, such as a payday loan or credit card. If that’s the case then it’s time to reprioritise.

Paying your rent and mortgage is essential, and it is classed as a priority outgoing even by your lenders. If your finances have become unmanageable and you’re having trouble budgeting to ensure you have enough to cover everything each month, borrowing more to pay such a big bill could quickly cause your debts to mount up to a serious problem.

Getting help

If you’re struggling to keep the roof over your head and have to borrow to do so, you don’t have to suffer alone with the problem. There is expert debt help available from sources like Debt Advisory Centre.

Speak to one of our friendly advisors today and fill us in on your situation. We’ll then see how we can help, and let you know about some of the debt solutions that are available, for which fees can be payable.

Whatever solution you choose, we’ll help you to reprioritise your outgoings each month so that you don’t have to regularly borrow money to pay your mortgage or rent. Speak to us today and let’s see how we can help.

*OnePoll questioned a nationally representative sample of 1,822 adults aged 18 and over between 25th February and 7th March 2014. Figures have been extrapolated to fit ONS 2013 population projections of 50,371,000 UK adults. **Consumer Intelligence research carried out a survey of a representative sample of 2,202 UK adults from 31st July - 05th August 2013.