Residents in London have submitted the most payday loan applications during the pandemic, new industry data has revealed.
Customer trends analysis from Little-Loans.com has revealed that residents in Greater London have made the most applications for short term loans this year out of all of the regions in the UK.
Almost 150,000 applications for short term loans have been made by London residents this year.
The average short term loan amount that London residents applied for was £1,532.
The customer trends analysis has highlighted the regions that applied for the most short term loans, with Greater London, the West Midlands and the North West topping the regional applicant charts.
The customer trends analysis also revealed which industries applicants work in, with staff from the hospitality and restaurant industry making the most applications. Given the tight restrictions on the hospitality industry in lockdown this year, and the bustling hospitality industries within the regions that saw the most applications for short term loans, it perhaps comes as no surprise that staff within these industries and areas may need additional financial support during lockdown.
The restrictions due to the pandemic have also added financial strain to employees of other industries, with staff in the construction and manufacturing industries coming in second for the highest number of applications for payday loans per industry.
Shockingly, NHS health workers came in third on the chart of industries that saw staff apply for payday loans during the course of the pandemic this year.
The data has been released by FCA-regulated credit broker Little-Loans.com, a loans comparison website that allows users to compare small loans from over 40 lenders to secure the lowest APR possible. The data has been released to highlight which regions in the UK have applied for the most short term financial support during the pandemic.
Commenting on the data, a spokesperson for Little-Loans.com said:
“It’s interesting to see that residents in London applied for the most short term loans during the pandemic, followed by the West Midlands and the North West. With top cities in these regions including London, Manchester and Birmingham all having bustling hospitality and nightlife industries, and these industries being heavily impacted by tight lockdown restrictions during the pandemic, it should perhaps come as no surprise that staff who are employed by these industries in these locations have needed extra financial support during the pandemic.”
“Our website allows customers to search for short term loans from a large panel of lenders in order to get the best APR based on their personal circumstances. The average loan amount for customers this year has been £1531. Short term loans allow customers with poor credit scores to gain access to small sums of cash quickly, for things like household emergencies, such as boiler repairs, or car breakdowns. They should not be used for unnecessary spending, such as holiday purchases.”
