‘Many households still struggling’ as lenders report rise in mortgage defaults

For free real time breaking news alerts sent straight to your inbox sign up to our breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails Sign up to our free breaking news emails SIGN UP I would like to be emailed about offers, events and updates from The Independent. Read our privacy policy Mortgage default rates among households have increased in the past few months – and are expected to rise again in the run-up to Christmas, a survey of lenders indicates. Defaults for non-mortgage lending, including credit cards, have decreased in recent months and banks and building societies expect this to remain unchanged in the next few months, the Bank of England’s Credit Conditions Survey found. Lenders also reported that the length of interest-free periods on credit cards for balance transfers had increased in the past few months and was expected to increase slightly in the quarter ahead. It demonstrates that higher mortgage rates are hitting middle earners hard Sarah Coles, Hargreaves Lansdown Karim Haji, global and UK head of financial services at KPMG, said: “These latest figures suggest that many households are still struggling in the current environment.