Anyone Can Get Into Housing Debt

People can get into housing debt for a variety of reasons:

• Change in circumstances like job loss, sickness or relationship breakdown
• Accessing high cost credit/mortgages from non traditional lenders and securing it on their homes
• Over-borrowing during the property boom.

Jack and Kerry are just one of the many couples facing the issue of housing debt. An unmarried home-owning couple in their early 30s from Swansea, they began to struggle with debts when Jack lost his job as a factory manager. Kerry still works as a manager at a travel agent, but nonetheless their monthly income has taken a sharp fall. They now take home around £2,000, including benefits for unemployment.

Jack and Kerry’s loss of income has left them unable to meet the demands of the creditors in full and still cover their priority debts such as their mortgage and living costs, and they have fallen into arrears. With only a small cash surplus left at the end of the month to pay back their mounting credit card debts, which had reached nearly £18,000, they were struggling.

Kerry knew she had more going out than coming in and so had already made arrangements to stop pension contributions and change some of the couple’s mortgage to an “interest-only” deal, to maximise their disposable income. CCCS were then able to help her build in an extra amount to her monthly budget to pay back arrears on their mortgage, electricity and water bills, and then brokered a Debt Management Plan for them which will last about seven years and see them repay their debts in full.