Need for debt advice 2023: estimates for UK constituencies and local authorities
Published on:
29 February 2024
Our 2023 Debt Need Survey looked at the need for debt advice in the UK. These reports provide estimates of the percentage of people needing debt advice in each Westminster parliamentary constituency and lower-tier local authority.
Our Need for Debt Advice measure replaced the over indebtedness (OI) measure that we previously used to report on this subject.
Read an explanation of how the need for debt advice measure is calculatedOpens in a new window (PDF, 318KB).
The reports show the percentage of people falling into groups 4–6 of our measure in each area who we believe would definitely need debt advice.
There is also more information on the data modelling used to calculate these estimates in each report and notes on how to interpret the results.
You can also read a blog covering the results of the 2023 debt needs survey at a UK and regional level.
Need for debt advice in different parliamentary constituencies
In these figures, estimates for the need for debt advice are broken down into different Westminster parliamentary constituencies.
The highest levels of need for debt advice are in constituencies within cities including London, Bradford and Birmingham. However, there are also pockets of high debt advice need in other towns and cities, including Blackburn, Leicester and Derby.
This downloadable heatmap graphic offers a visual summary of this need for debt advice by constituency. The areas with the highest need for debt advice are shown in red.
Download figures for all constituencies
Need for debt advice in different local authorities
In these figures, estimates for the need for debt advice are broken down into different local authorities.
Again, the highest levels of need for debt advice are in large cities including London, which makes up seven of the 10 local authorities with the most individuals with a high need for debt advice, and Manchester.
However, there are also pockets of high debt advice need in local authority areas in smaller towns and cities, including Leicester, Sandwell and Nottingham.
This downloadable heatmap graphic below summarise the need for debt advice, broken down into different local authority areas. The areas with the highest need for debt advice are shown in red.
Download figures for all local authorities
Technical Report: 2023 Debt Need Survey
This technical report covers the approach that MaPS took to the survey, working with research agency Alligator.
The report goes into detail on how we executed each aspect of the project from questionnaire development, interviewing and data processing.