The home credit market in context

At the end of 2011, total outstanding personal debt in the UK stood at £1,45trn. Of this, the vast majority, over £1,24trn, was mortgage debt. £178 billion was unsecured consumer credit.

The mainstream market, limited to lower-risk borrowers, accounts for over 80% of consumer credit balances. Borrowers are usually salaried and have little or no history of non-payment. Most have a mortgage. The majority of mainstream borrowers have a credit card on which they pay off the full balance each month.

Provident competes in the non-standard market. Collectively, the 10m people in the non-standard market borrow around £65 billion annually.

Bar chart showing the spread of the total credit market in £bn - Value of total personal debt balances in the UK: 1.45trn, Secured consumer credit - mortgage debt balances: 1.24trn, Unsecured consumer credit - balances:207bn, Unsecured consumer credit - credit issued:178bn

Sources

PFG estimates using data from:

Bank of England, British Bankers Association, Datamonitor, Finance and Leasing Association, Financial Services Authority, National Pawnbrokers Association, Office of Fair Trading, Office for National Statistics and individual company disclosures and announcements.