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Growth of debt slows down in March

04/05/2010

In March, the total amount of personal debt in the UK grew - but by a fair bit less than we`ve seen in recent months.

So says the Bank of England, which released its `Lending to Individuals: March 2010` figures this morning at 9:30.

In December, it seems, total debt grew by £1.7bn; in January, it grew by £1.9bn; and in February, by £2.4bn.

So March`s figure might surprise a few people: throughout the month, consumers only borrowed £0.6bn more than they repaid. It`s still a lot of money, but nowhere near the average over the previous six months - £1.6bn.

In terms of unsecured debt, the `net growth` (amount borrowed minus amount repaid) was £0.3bn in March - smaller than the totals in the previous two months, but still higher than the average over the last six months (just £0.1). Credit card lending increased by £0.2bn, but `other loans and advances` grew by just £0.1bn.

The big change came in debt that`s secured on property - like mortgages and remortgages. Here, the net growth dropped to just £0.3bn, the lowest figure we`ve seen since July last year, when people actually repaid more secured debt than they took on.

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More than 4 million fear they`ll be made redundant 16/12/2010 - According to R3`s quarterly personal debt tracker, more than 4 Consumers took on more mortgage debt in July 26/08/2010 - Consumers took on £2bn more mortgage debt than they repaid Debts called in by parents 26/08/2010 - According to research, `the bank of Mum and Dad` is Teenagers `scared of debt` 19/08/2010 - Nearly two thirds of teenagers are `scared` of debt, according