According to a recent survey by Mintel on spending and lifestyle, owning your own home is most important to people this year. The results showed that three quarters of the 2000 people surveyed felt owning their own home was more important than medical insurance and pensions.
Other priorities on the agenda were cars, credit cards, owning second properties and saving more.
The company that carried out this survey said that the home is now more important as people try to balance their lives. However, with everyone wanting to own their own home, the levels of debt per household have also risen dramatically. The average income per household determined by the survey is £36,000 per year. However, the average debt has now risen to £33,500. In the big scale of things, consumer borrowing has more than doubled to £800bn in the last 10 years.
Our view:
If you are thinking about taking on debt, make sure you can afford it, even if your circumstances change. Look at how your interest is worked out and when it can go up. Make sure you can still afford it.