More people in UK saving than a year ago and also less likely to raid their savings accounts, survey shows

News - Savings

Written by Ray Clancy

Thursday, 28 January 2010 09:43

British savers have increased the amount they are putting away by 136% compared with last year and are now less likely to raid their savings, according to new research.

In the three months to January 2010, Britons saved an average of £776, compared with £329 during the three months to January 2009. However, this is less than the £849 saved in the three months to July 2009, the research from Birmingham Midshires shows.

Although two in five British adults, 38%, admit to raiding their savings during the same period, the average raiding amount has reduced to £1,724 from an all time high in July 2009 of £2,191.

‘It is encouraging to see that people are taking their savings seriously, putting away more and raiding less. In the current economic climate people have revisited their savings habits with a marked increase in people saving for a rainy day,’ said John Bianco, Head of Birmingham Midshires Savings Products.

They survey also shows that overall the percentage of people saving for a rainy day has increased by 9%, from 18% to 27% but there is considerable regional variations with those in the South setting aside the most in the past three months, some £872, compared to just £565.20 for Welsh savers.

Savers in the east of the country admit to having raided their savings accounts by an average of £2,250 in the last quarter. This compares to the lowest average savings raid of £616 in Scotland.

Those in the east are also less likely to keep track of their savings with almost a fifth, 19%), admitting that they do not know how much money they have saved in the last three months.

Almost a quarter, some 23%, of respondents raided their savings to pay for emergency home or car repairs whilst a sixth, 16%, used their savings to pay for a holiday.

More than a third of respondents in the Midlands, 36%, raided their savings to pay for emergency home or car repairs whilst a 16% of savers in the North used the money to splash out on impulse gifts or luxury shopping.

Nearly a third, 31%, of savers in the Wales are putting their pennies away for a holiday whilst one in ten savers, 11%, in London, the North and the South are determined to build a deposit for a house.