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The 10 areas of the UK with the highest levels of debt

The 10 areas of the UK with the highest levels of debt

The Money Advice Service collaborated with CACI to write a report, compiling a list of local authorities in the UK with the highest and lowest "over-indebtedness".

What is the definition of over-indebtedness? Respondents were instructed to answer 'yes' or 'no' to the following two questions:

Do you find keeping up with bills and credit commitments a heavy burden?

And:

Have you fallen behind or missed payments in at least three of the last six months?

According to the research, the national average is 16.1 per cent:


Here are the 10 most over-indebted areas:

1. Sandwell, West Midlands (24.7%)

2. Blaenau Gwent, Wales (24.3%)

3. Merthyr Tydfil, Wales (24.1)

4. Newham, London (23.8%)

5. Derry and Strabane, Northern Ireland (23.8%)

6. Barking and Dagenham, London (23.0%)

7. Belfast, Northern Ireland (22.9%)

8. Tower Hamlets, London (22.9%)

9. Kingston upon Hull, Yorkshire and The Humber (21.9%)

10. Rhondda Cynon Taf, Wales (21.9%)


Most of the local authorities who fall below the UK average are located in the South west.

Here are the 10 least over-indebted areas:

1. East Renfrewshire, Scotland, (10.0%)

2. East Dorset, South West (10.1%)

3. East Dunbartonshire, Scotland (10.1%)

4. Elmbridge, South East (10.2%)

5. Mole Valley, South East (10.3%)

6. South Bucks, South East (10.6%)

7. Chiltern, South East (10.6%)

8. Epsom and Ewell, South East (10.6)

9. Aberdeenshire, Scotland (10.7%)

10. Hart, South East (10.7%)

The over-indebtedness population is younger, more likely to rent and more likely to have children than the UK as a whole.

Of the top ten most indebted areas, London features three times - Newham, Barking and Dagenham, and Tower Hamlets.

These boroughs are also amongst the most deprived areas of the UK, which seems to indicate a correlation between local authority areas that are heavily in debt, and poverty.

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