An overarching picture - Comment on the UK Finance Q3 household finance review from Richard Pike at Phoebus Software

08 December 2022

Richard Pike, Phoebus Software chief sales and marketing officer, says “Although the data in the latest UK Finance household spending review is from Q3, it does give us a more overarching picture of the market and what may be to come. As we head towards the new year we are unlikely to see much change during what is traditionally a quieter time of the year. However, we should be prepared for a slower pick-up than we would normally expect as consumers count the cost of Christmas along with rising costs generally. Although mortgage rates have been coming down recently, this may not be the case if the Bank of England puts the base rate up again next week.

“Seeing that early arrears were on the rise is a note of caution for lenders to be prepared going into 2023. They will not only need staff on the ground to assist borrowers, but they will also need all their systems in place to detect early signs of borrowers in difficulty. Without the proper back-office technology the process of early detection and intervention is more difficult and potentially damaging down the line. It’s a case now of being prepared.”