Banks are cutting back on lending because of concerns that the economy is deteriorating and your ability to repay. From this month, it will be even harder for households to take on credit as banks are ‘significantly’ tightening their credit scoring criteria for people asking for loans, especially credit cards.

All this because the Bank of England have concerns that people have taken on too much debt in recent years. So, while demand from households for borrowing is expected to increase as budgets are eroded, savings tumble, the government unleashes a torrent of benefit cuts and wage packets are squeezed at the fastest rate in three years, doesn’t this risk causing serious financial problems for people already struggling?

Our growing reliance on debt is hardly a surprise as the pressure on household spending has been building, leaving one in three of us in debt to rely on credit to get by every single month. Of course, we can see the logic, don’t lend to people who can’t afford it. But simply cutting off lifelines like benefits and credit is only a recipe for disaster in the long run.

The logic isn’t so clear cut against the fact that mortgage availability is predicted to increase. With the cost of an average home in the UK reaching a new record high of £217,502, the reality is millions of people simply can’t get their foot on the housing ladder as income growth has failed to keep up. Confused, yes, we are too. Wasn’t excessive mortgage lending the reason we had a financial crisis in the first place, not personal lending?!