5 November 2007
The UK's debt mountain is not just built by mortgages and personal loans, Skipton building society has revealed.
Owing large sums of money to family members among Britons was also found to be commonplace - with an astonishing total of £25 billion measured by the firm.
This is an increase of 82% over the figure for just a decade ago - a sign that rising interest rates might be pricing some out of the personal and unsecured loans market as repayment totals rise.
A slight majority of Britons (51%) were found to have lent to a family member over this period, with 11% having handed over more than £5,000 at a time.
Head of Media Relations at Skipton Jennifer Holloway commented: "This is [all] perfectly understandable when the cost of modern living is rising all the time, but the cost of relationships that suffer as a result should also be considered.
"It's obvious that, by accumulating some savings, people could be less reliant on their families for handouts - but when you're struggling with money in the first place, that can seem daunting."
As might have been expected, the amount of parents lending the most money to children (47% of those asked) clearly outnumbered those who owed their offspring cash (12%).
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