Over 1m turn to credit cards to pay housing costs

11 January 2010 | By Natalie Holt

The survey from the homelessness charity, conducted by YouGov, asked 2,022 adults whether they had used a credit card to pay their rent or mortgage in the last 12 months.

Some 6% of those liable for rent or mortgage payments used their credit card to pay off housing costs, which Shelter calculates to reflect a national figure of more than one million people.

In London alone, one in 12 households are resorting to plastic to pay their mortgage or rent.

The highest proportion of those who pay their rent or mortgage through credit card were from working class professions at 8%.

But the survey also found that the middle and upper classes are also turning to credit cards to manage mortgage and rental payments, with 4% of respondents saying they use credit cards in this way.

Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter, says: “This is a shocking discovery, that over a million households in Britain are in such desperate circumstances that they need to borrow money on credit cards to pay for basic housing costs. 

“If people are already struggling to the extent that they fear losing their home, increasing credit card debt cannot be the answer.”

Martin Lewis, from MoneySavingExpert.com, says: “Mortgages are a debt, credit cards are a debt. 

“For all but the seriously financially savvy, using credit cards to pay rent or mortgages is a mistake that can store up mammoth financial problems for the future. 

“If you can’t afford to pay your housing costs lumping up the borrowing is never the answer – far better is to seek help as soon as possible and start managing the problem.”