Increasing numbers of mortgage holders helped by Citizens Advice are unable to make ends meet as their essential costs rise and interest rate rises start to bite.
In 2019 mortgage holders had a £61 surplus after covering essential bills, but they now face a £147 a month shortfall, figures from the latest Citizens Advice cost-of-living dashboard showed.
People of colour (£276), single parents (£182) and disabled people (£164), were all experiencing bigger shortfalls than others.
The number of mortgage holders the business was helping with crisis support – food bank referrals and emergency charitable grants – increased by 177% between the six months of 2020 and the same period in 2023 (1,521 to 4,215).
Citizens Advice also said it was helping record numbers of private renters with homelessness and with Section 21 ’no fault’ evictions.
With housing costs pushing increasing numbers of people into the red across the spectrum, Citizens Advice called for a small targeted fund for mortgage holders on low incomes who are at real risk of losing their home.
The charity also urged the Government to bring forward the Renters Reform Bill, to increase protection and improved rights for renters.
Dame Clare Moriarty, chief executive of Citizens Advice, said: “People who can’t cover their essential bills risk being sucked into a spiral of debt.
“Our latest analysis is a sobering reminder that, despite cutting their spending back to the absolute minimum, too many people are simply living on empty.
“The Government must look at ways of preventing mortgage holders and renters from falling further into the abyss.”
