Communities with a high proportion of Right to Buy homeowners represent just over 14% of insolvencies, where council tenants of small flats constituted 5.5% of insolvencies respectively from April to June this year.
The economic downturn continues to hit the poorest sectors of the UK population with a marked rise in insolvencies amongst welfare dependent groups and lower income families.
However, across the demographic, figures published today by the Insolvency Service showed there were 10.2 per cent fewer personal insolvencies in Q2 2012 compared with the same quarter in 2011.
Four Scottish towns have the highest concentrations of insolvency rates with Clydebank at 10 per 10,000, followed by Kirkaldy, Falkirk and Glenrothes, largely down on the previous year.
However, towns which have recovered the most in the last 12 months include St Albans, Bournemouth, Cheltenham, Shrewsbury and Gloucester.
High-end unemployment is also making its mark with Richmond, Chiswick and Putney, some of the most expensive areas in London, seeing the highest levels of personal insolvencies in the country. Newcastle-under-Lyme, near Stoke-on-Trent and Newton Abbot in Derbyshire also featured in the top five.
In stark contrast, young professionals experienced the biggest drop in their share of personal insolvencies in the last 12 months, with young, professional and middle class families seeing insolvencies falling by nearly 6% in a year.
Experian spokesman Simon Waller, said: “In a downturn the least well off are always likely to suffer most as financial pressures lead to the challenge of meeting their repayments. It remains vital for organisations to be able to identify and segment customers by their specific needs and characteristics and for lenders to identify those that are generally struggling to pay their bills.”
Government figures revealed that overall levels of personal insolvency in England fell just over 10% with 27,390 signing up to bankruptcy, Individual Voluntary Arrangements (IVAs) or taking advantage of the Government’s Debt Relief Orders (DROs).
Nick Reed, director and personal insolvency expert at PwC, said: “Clearly, consumers are still struggling with high levels of debt and a lack of refinancing options is exacerbating the problem.
“There is a continuing decline in bankruptcies year on year. However, DROs have been on the rise since Q4 2011, suggesting they are replacing what would have been in some cases bankruptcies. On the whole, DROs are proving effective in dealing with those debtors who have limited income and assets.
“Looking ahead, the remainder of 2012 will be especially challenging for self-employed business people who continue to suffer in the current economic conditions, particularly those in the retail sector, where we may see an increase in bankruptcies.”
Louise Brittain, partner in Deloitte’s Contentious Insolvency team, said: “While these figures are a decrease on the same period last year, they are still exceptionally high and show that every day about 300 people become insolvent.
“Many families are struggling to make ends meet and a shock such as an unexpected bill, redundancy or reduced hours at work can send them tumbling towards insolvency.”
