Fear and dread on debt-hit estate

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By Sarah Pennells BBC News Debt on Holme Wood estate has rocketed from £200,000 to £1.3mMany people in the UK are finding the recession and credit crunch means they have to make cutbacks, whether on meals out or on necessities such as food and energy bills.

However, for some people paying for the basics is impossible unless they go into debt.

On the Holme Wood estate on the outskirts of Bradford, a local advice service is having to turn people away because it has seen such a sharp rise in the number of people who are unable to pay their debts.

Alex Elthinstone, who is a debt adviser at Holme Wood Advice Centre, says that over the past five years he has become used to dealing with about £200,000 worth of debt a year from Holme Wood and two neighbouring estates.

MONEY PROBLEMS IN HOLME WOOD 2007: One property repossessed per year2008: 11 properties repossessed2007: 2-3 people declared bankrupt a year2008: 8 people declared bankrupt2007: Advised on £200,000 of debt2008: Advised on £1.3 million of debt<i>Source: Holme Wood Advice Centre</i> This year the amount of debt that people seeking advice owe has rocketed to £1.3 million.

The money has been borrowed from a variety of lenders, including mail order catalogue firms, credit cards, banks and "door knockers" - door-to-door lenders who are active on the estate.

Part of the reason why the debt figure has risen so sharply is that more people are struggling to pay loans they have secured on their homes.

Mr Elthinstone says debt and relationship breakdown often go hand in hand.

"The effect on families and individuals in these situations is devastating," he said.

"The whole family is broken up, invariably - the relationship breaks down and sometimes the kids are taken into care.

"On one occasion, more than one occasion, I've had people talking about ending their lives. This is the true cost of the debt - it's the human misery.

"It's not the statistics, it's not the figures, it's the abject human misery."

Because an increasing number of people in the Holme Wood area have got into arrears on secured loans, there has also been a sharp rise in the number of properties that have been repossessed.

'Dreading Christmas'

Several people BBC News spoke to on the Holme Wood estate said they simply would not be able to manage without borrowing.

For some of them, door-to-door lenders were the only option.

You end up with three or four lenders just to get straight or just to get warm Holme Wood resident But as one woman explained: "It just gets you deeper in debt because at the end of the day the money you're borrowing has to be paid back...

"You have to go borrow again from somebody else, so you end up with three or four lenders just to get straight or just to get warm. That's how I find it."

Another woman said that while she had avoided borrowing money in this way so far, she was dreading the extra expense of Christmas.

"The bills in the house are too expensive to make you think about buying Christmas presents. I don't know how people cope, I really don't know how people cope."

With higher energy bills and Christmas less than two months away, it is likely that many more people in this part of Bradford will struggle to make ends meet.

The debt advice service says it is preparing for a further rise in the number of people seeking help, and an increase in the amount they owe.