While current levels of mortgage debt are deemed sustainable by many lenders, fears over payment defaults are an increasing threat for borrowers.
In research conducted among a 2,000-strong sample group, assistance product provider CPP Group found over a quarter (26%) feared defaulting on debt payments ‘ this figure is up from 18% in October. For a third of the respondents, mortgage payments were the greatest worry.
This was especially true for younger people, and of those under 25, 15% were now worried about their mortgage repayments. This figure had almost doubled since October (8%).
Only 24% of those in the South were worried about their mortgage bills despite falling house prices. This figure has halved since October, while half of those questioned in Yorkshire expressed fears over their mortgage repayments.
Commenting on the findings, Simon Burgess, managing director of Goodfellows, said: ‘There has been an increase in fears in the state of the economy and that fear has been reflected in an increase in sales of protection products.’
Julia Proctor from CPP Group, added: ‘A gloomy stock market, uncertainty over house prices, and the first credit card bills after Christmas are the backdrop to a feeling of economic uncertainty.’
Other financial obligations creating worries were council tax, utility bills credit cards and bank overdrafts.
