Our comment on the latest Bank of England consumer credit data and the FCA creditworthiness rules
30 July, 2018
Peter Tutton, Head of Policy at StepChange Debt Charity said:
"While the growth in consumer credit recently stabilised, households are still at risk of being tipped into severe problem debt. We estimated 9 million people are already using credit just to make ends meet, as the recent ONS report showed the poorest 10% of households spent two-and-a-half times their disposable income. Therefore helping the households living on a financial knife edge must be a priority for public policy.
“With credit card borrowing growing fastest and the FCA’s proposals for toughening affordability assessments released today, we are looking for a clear statement from the regulator that credit markets, and credit cards in particular, must grow in a sustainable way and lending practices focused on preventing people from falling into persistent debt.”