As the cost of living crisis continues to bite 30% of people paying rent or mortgages have said they are finding it difficult to afford their payments, the Opinions and Lifestyle Survey (OPN) from the ONS has revealed.
Around a third (36%) of disabled adults found it difficult to afford their rent or mortgage payments compared with 40% and 27% of non-disabled people, respectively.
45% of Brits found it difficult to afford energy bills between June and September (40% in the preceding three months).
Sarah Coles, senior personal finance analyst, Hargreaves Lansdown, said: “Those on lower incomes are being crushed between rising energy bills and housing costs, including those on pre-payment meters, renters, people with disabilities, Black or Black British people and Asian or Asian British people. And the pressure is only going to get worse.
“Almost half of us are finding it difficult to pay the bills at the moment (45%), but this rockets to almost three quarters of those on pre-payment meters (72%), and three in five renters (60%).
“And the pressure is mounting. Direct debit customers should be able to pay the same amount each month, so that higher winter costs are spread throughout the year.
“However, some calculations of direct debits at a time of rising prices have been so wayward that there are no guarantees.
“Meanwhile, those on pre-payment meters pay for energy as they go, so will be hit hard as winter bites. It’s particularly alarming that this is the group that’s already most likely to be struggling with bills. So it seems particularly unfair that they are charged even more for their energy than direct debit customers.
“Renters are also facing some impossible challenges. They’re finding it harder to pay their energy bills and cover their housing costs than those with mortgages. This owes something to the fact that it makes up a bigger chunk of their spending. The report found that in 2021 people with a mortgage paid an average of 16% of household income on the mortgage while renters paid an average of 23%.
“Renters are also more exposed to rises in living costs. The rapidly falling number of properties available to rent, coupled with escalating numbers of renters means that rents have been soaring in recent months for anyone whose tenancy has come to an end.
“Meanwhile, those who pay a mortgage and are on a fixed rate are protected from price rises for the length of their fix – typically two or five years.
“For them, there’s a nasty shock lying in wait when they need to remortgage – especially since the mini-Budget ramped up mortgage rates so dramatically. However, in the interim their bills feel marginally more manageable.”
