Abacus Daily Debt News

Households ‘focusing on debt repayment’

Repaying debt is a bigger priority than saving for UK households at the moment, one expert has suggested.

Brian Morris, the Building Societies Association’s (BSA’s) head of savings policy, said the situation is such that there is the potential for a net withdrawal from the UK’s saving market during this year.

"In the current low interest rate environment there is evidence that households are looking to repay debt rather than save," he remarked.

Mr Morris made his comments as the BSA released its building society mortgage figures for April.

The £1.551 billion sum for the month was down by £20 million on March and £2.37 billion on the previous year. The BSA claimed the new statistic demonstrate that lending levels are beginning to stabilise.

Also published today were the Bank of England’s mortgage approvals statistics, which showed a 57 per cent increase in May compared to November’s low, according to the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors’ Simon Rubinsohn.

By Chris Trimble