Missed housing payments were highest in the rental sector – with one in 20, or 5.2%, of tenants surveyed missing a payment in April, says the consumer watchdog.   

It adds: “Missed rent payments have stayed at a high rate throughout the last year, showing many are struggling to keep a roof over their head.”   

The body’s poll adds that 3.1% of mortgage holders also missed a payment, with the Bank of England expected to lift interest rates for the 12th time in a row by 0.25% to 4.5% on Thursday.   

Overall, two million households missed or defaulted on at least one mortgage, rent, loan, credit card or bill last month, accounting for 7.3% of households.   

This missed payment rate is in line with the level seen at the same time last year, but higher than the 6.5% rate in April 2021 and 5.2% in April 2020.   

Bills remain the most common type of missed payment in the country, accounting for 4.4% of unpaid demands – with energy fees most commonly missed, at 2%, followed by council tax, at 1.6%.   

The study says 59% of households reported making savings to cover essential spending on utility bills, housing costs, groceries, school supplies and medicines in the last month — amounting to around 16.6 million households.   

These cutbacks include cutting spending on essentials, dipping into savings, selling possessions, or borrowing.    

“This is consistent with the high adjustment level seen for the past year, and matches the level seen in April 2022, but is much higher than the 35 per cent seen two years ago,” the report says.   

Which? director of policy and advocacy Rocio Concha says: “It’s very worrying that so many households are missing housing payments.    

“We’d encourage anyone who’s struggling to seek free debt advice and reach out to their mortgage provider or landlord for help.   

“As so many people face financial hardship, Which? is calling on businesses in essential sectors like food, energy and telecoms providers to do more to help customers get a good deal and avoid unnecessary or unfair costs and charges during this crisis.”  

The Mortgage Lender research adds that 3.2 million adults missed some form of major payment over the last two years “as the pandemic hit some household’s finances hard”. 

The firm says this equates to 6% of people who missed their usual payments, including on major expenses such as their rent, mortgage, or credit cards.  

Four in 100 adults admit to having missed multiple payments, representing a significant proportion of the population who’ve been financially squeezed throughout the pandemic and who may have fallen into adverse credit. 

The lender says: “Missed payments can have big implications for a person’s access to credit in the future, including large loans like a mortgage.  

“It’s therefore concerning that prospective homebuyers are more likely to have accrued adverse credit recently, with 10% admitting to having missed one or more payments in the past two years, putting them at risk of having a mortgage application rejected.” 

Over this two-year period, across all adults who admitted to missing a payment, the average number of payments missed was three, with almost 31% missing five or more. 

Looking at what bills had been missed, the majority had missed a credit card payment, at 45% of all missed payments. Other missed payments include: 

• 40% missed a utility bill payment 
• 27% missed paying their council tax 
• 25% missed their rent payments 
• 23% missed personal loan repayments 
• 7% missed mortgage repayments 

The Mortgage Lender chief executive Peter Beaumont says: “The past two years have impacted many people’s jobs and salaries, putting a squeeze on household finances, and with the rising cost of living there is even greater pressure on the nation’s finances.  

“This can all lead an individual to miss a regular payment which then could have a knock-on effect on their access to credit down the line. 

“In such a volatile economic climate, it’s important that more people are prevented from falling down a rabbit hole of financial difficulty.  

“The lending market needs to become better equipped to deal with the greater quantities of people who are emerging from the pandemic with adverse credit histories.  

“Rather than penalising people for the consequences of an unprecedented event, the industry should be working together to support those who’ve missed payments so that people, especially aspiring homeowners, aren’t locked out of the market.” 

The Which? Consumer Insight Tracker is an online poll carried out each month by research firm Yonder. It is weighted to be nationally representative with around 2,000 respondents each time.   

The Mortgage Lender surveyed 2,002 adults between 3 and 9 November 2021, which included 277 respondents who said they planned to buy a property in the next year.