November 2021
Featured in this insight: Financial services
29% of homeowners reveal they used private renters for their mortgage payments: A survey published in November 2021 by the Office for National Statistics has revealed that nearly three in ten homeowners with a mortgage say they made repayments via a private renter, with just under a quarter (23%) reporting they used social renters.
The study is one of the longest running Government surveys (first published in 1967) and aims to outline patterns and key points of change in the way British people use a mortgage. For example, it was found that just 3% of people with a mortgage expect to fall behind on their bills, a decrease from the 4% which stated the same thing in November 2020.
When asked if they had ever been behind on their bills, one in ten households admitted to being behind in April 2021; a slight decrease from the 12% who said the same in November 2020. Furthermore, 17% of private renters admitted to be behind on at least one household bill.
The number of households in arrears has gone up since the start of the pandemic, according to the poll, with 2% admitting to owing money at the time of the survey, compared to less than 1% before the pandemic. In addition, one in ten households said they found it difficult to keep up with payments over the last year.
Of those who owed money or who were in arrears, four in ten said they have struggled more over the last year than they had previously; with a further 46% stating they had difficulty between July and November 2020, during the early stages of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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