UK Consumer - comment

Today’s UK’ economic headlines are dominated by the drop in Retail sales, the lowest since February 2021, impacted by lower fuel consumption and poor weather.  However, we want to highlight two other reports today, including Nationwide’s H1 results where they reported an uptick in bad loans, with arrears rising.  Also released this morning is a survey from the Joseph Rowntree Foundation, which shows an increase in mortgage arrears.  

Although the headlines are negative, further Nationwide comments acknowledge that although arrears will continue to rise, they are not as severe as expected this time last year.  Other snippets of information do highlight the squeezed UK consumer, and point to consumers continuing to trade down, which should benefit Iceland and Matalan to name but two.