My team and I are seeing consumers display remarkable adaptation strategies. From the rise in 35-year mortgage terms to the behavioural choice of using flexible credit products like Buy Now, Pay Later (BNPL), (today, 39% of UK adults use BNPL, up marginally from 38% in 2025), even among older demographics, consumers are actively managing their cash flow in ways that don’t always show up as traditional arrears.

Outstanding credit card debt now exceeds £80.9 billion but this doesn’t necessarily signal distress, rather a sophisticated choice of ease, speed and potential card rewards.

But this does raise a critical question for all of us: How do we accurately model affordability when consumer behaviour is changing this rapidly?

We shouldn’t look at these trends in isolation. When we combine high-level macro data with industry-specific insights, such as the impact of energy bill fluctuations and the cumulative effect of National Insurance contributions, we start to see a clearer picture of who is resilient and who is truly at risk.

For many lower-income households, the margin for error has never been thinner. To make responsible, fair lending decisions, we must move away from “one-size-fits-all” affordability assessments and toward a more granular, evidence-based approach.
At Equifax we believe the right data can drive financial inclusion and better outcomes for all, that’s why we release our latest consumer credit data and insights every quarter to help you stay ahead of market trends, identify key shifts and analyse consumer behaviour.

Our latest Spending & Lending Report is available now, giving updates on where consumers are spending, and how they are lending in Summer 2026 along with why these changes may be happening, and what to look out for in the coming months. Take a look and let me know what you think.