What does the research say?

According to research from Bluestone Mortgages, which surveyed around 2,000 adults for Mental Health Awareness Week 2024, the ongoing cost-of-living crisis and inflation have affected both financial and mental health in the UK.

In its findings, Bluestone Mortgages stated that 41% of people reported being financially worse off than they were a year ago. Adults aged 35-44 were hit hardest, with 47% in a worse financial position than they were 12 months prior, compared to 30% of those aged 18-24.

In addition to the age of those surveyed, gender and credit were major factors at play. The damage to mental health was more pronounced for women than men (87% versus 69%). Among people with adverse credit, 96% admitted that their financial situation was harming their mental health.

Ryan Davies, strategy director at Bluestone Mortgages, said: “As the ongoing cost-of-living pressures and sticky inflation continue to take their toll, we expect to see a rise in vulnerable customers.

“This research highlights a clear link between people’s finances and mental health, so it’s more important than ever that customers are provided with the support they need and deserve to rebuild their financial resilience.”

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The impact of financial stress on mental health and vice versa cannot be understated. In January last year, research showed over a million mortgage holders with mental health issues had cut spending to meet repayments. This is the cycle of finance and mental health in action.

“The best thing customers can do is seek support from a mortgage lender or speak with a broker to understand the tailored options available to suit their circumstances.

“It’s our responsibility as an industry to help these customers during these challenging times and support them in their homeownership goals,” Davies added.

 

What can mortgage lenders do?

Mental Health Awareness Week has been running annually since 2001 and aims to bring the UK together to focus on improving mental health. The theme this year was community, focusing on the power of strong connections and support networks to improve mental health.

Mortgage lenders and brokers play a crucial role in homeowners’ lives and have a duty to understand the interconnected nature of mental health and finances. Many common symptoms of mental health problems, such as impulsivity and memory problems, can make it harder to manage money and mortgage repayments. Plus, paying for such a basic need as shelter, these big bills are closely tied to feelings of security and mental wellbeing.

Events like the Mortgage Industry Mental Health Charter’s (MIMHC’s) Walk and Talk are exemplary ways professionals can help to raise money and awareness around mental ill health. Among those who participated this year was Dev Malle, chief business development officer at Simplify, who said: “You can look at anyone and never know. That’s why it’s so important to be open to the conversation, initiate the conversation and support the conversation.”

To help customers who may be facing difficulties with their mental health and finances, mortgage lenders should ideally:

• Communicate clearly and accessibly by using simple and jargon-free language
• Encourage customers to disclose mental health problems and make it easy to do so
• Train all customer-facing staff in supporting people with mental health problems
• Make it easy for customers to get in touch if they are struggling
• Help customers access support as soon as possible; for example, by enabling customer-facing staff to transfer those in a crisis directly to the right services

 

By taking these steps, mortgage lenders and brokers can do their part to help customers who may be struggling. As important community connections, they can ease the financial impact of mental health problems for homeowners and ultimately improve the cycle.

Stay up to date with further reporting on this and other mortgage topics on our news page.