Quarter of Londoners dipping into savings

More than a quarter of people (27%) in London are being forced to dip into their savings to make ends meet every month, according to new research from responsible subscription lender Creditspring.

However, the research also reveals that almost a third of people (32%) across London don’t have any savings to fall back on – prompting fears of a worsening crisis to come as the cost of living continues to rise.

Across London, almost two in five people (39%) admit they are terrified for their financial future whilst more than half (53%) claim they are anxious about their finances. There is a sense of helplessness as more than four in ten (42%) feel as though there is nothing they can do to improve their financial situation.

The research also indicates that people are desperately trying to save to build a financial buffer but the cost of living crisis is making this nearly impossible. More than half of people in London (53%) want to save but can’t due to high cost of living, whilst 48% don’t expect to be able to save anything in the next six months. This lack of rainy day fund means that these people will have nowhere to turn but lenders when they run out of money, leaving people vulnerable to unscrupulous lending practices.

Neil Kadagathur, Co-Founder and CEO of Creditspring, comments: “Household budgets in London are on the precipice. Hundreds of thousands of people are forced to raid their savings just to survive the current cost of living crisis – this will have a disastrous impact on their future financial wellbeing.

“Given the bleak situation it’s no wonder that people across London are feeling hopeless. They are in desperate need of more effective financial support – the recent mini-budget was a missed opportunity to provide households with a support package that would make a real difference. It’s going to be a challenging winter for all of us, but many across London will be concerned that they may never recover financially from this.”

Creditspring’s members benefit from the platform’s affordable, easy-to-use loans and education tools, including its Stability Hub service which offers members a financial health audit and personalised tips to improve their financial situation.

Creditspring has just launched its latest education tool – Spring Score – which provides insight into members’ eligibility for Creditspring products to improve access to financial support tools such as ‘Step’ credit builder which helps members gradually improve their credit score without running the risk of incurring further debt.