Affluent parts of region struggle with high levels of household debt

Figures for the first nine months of this year raise fears that high earning households with easy access to credit in the good times are struggling to make repayments at a time when incomes are squeezed and experts last night warned the situation could dramatically worsen if interest rates increase.

The figures from debt charity StepChange show that the 
average person contacting it 
for advice in Harrogate owed £19,359 in unsecured debts 
such as credit cards and loans, while in Bradford the figure was £14,625.

When the figures from StepChange are studied by postcode they highlight how debt levels are higher in more affluent areas. In the postcode covering the Denby Dale and Lepton areas of Huddersfield the unsecured average debt was £28,387, while in the less affluent Bramley area of Leeds the average unsecured debt dealt with was £12,262.

A spokesman for StepChange said: “That the more affluent 
areas have more debt is likely 
to be a result of the fact that 
those on higher incomes have 
access to greater levels of 
credit.”

Gary Shaw, a director with professional services firm PricewaterhouseCoopers, based in Leeds, said: “We are one of the most indebted countries in the world in terms of levels of debt that each household has.

“People’s ability to keep their heads above water is being underpinned by low interest rates.

“I think if interest rates were normal then the level of defaults and repossessions would be enormous.”

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