Households were asked if they had arrears, i.e. failed to make a payment in time during the 12 months prior to the date of interview due to financial difficulties. These payments included mortgage or rental payments; utility bills; hire purchase instalments, or other loan payments. The answer categories were ‘yes, once’; ‘yes, twice or more’; ‘no’.
Care should be taken when interpreting mortgage arrears data from the SILC survey. In SILC a household is only considered to be owned with a mortgage if the purpose of the mortgage was to purchase or majorly refurbish the main dwelling. If a SILC household has one mortgage on the primary dwelling and if the main purpose for taking out the mortgage was not for purchase or major refurbishment of the main dwelling, e.g. to finance a business activity, then the household for SILC purposes is classified as ‘owned-outright’.
In 2025, of the 58.4% of households making mortgage or rent payments, 2.7% failed once and a further 5.9% failed twice or more to make a payment on time in the 12-month period prior to their date of interview. These rates are relatively unchanged compared with the 2024 rates when 3.0% of households making mortgage or rent payments failed once and a further 5.9% failed twice or more to make a payment on time in the past 12 months. See figure 5.1 and table 5.1.
The data collection phase of the SILC is conducted during the first two quarters of the calendar year. Statistics published by the Commission for Regulation of Utilities show that electricity bill arrears for domestic customers were higher in Quarter 1, 2025 when compared with Quarter 1, 2024. For further information see Electricity and Gas Retail Markets Reports | CRU.ie
In 2025, of households that had utility bills, 8.1%, had arrears on utility bills, with 6.1% failing to make a payment on time twice or more in the 12-month period prior to their interview date. In 2024 8.3% of households had arrears on utility bills, up from 7.3% in 2023. See figure 5.2 and table 5.2.
In 2025, of households that had hire purchase instalments or other loan payments, 7.9% had arrears, with 6.2% failing to make a payment on time on two or more occasions in the 12-month period prior to their interview date. See figure 5.3 and table 5.3.
Analysis by household composition shows that single-adult households with children were the most likely to have missed at least one mortgage, rent, utility or other loan repayments, in the 12-month period prior to interview. Of households making the relevant payments, one in five (18.5%) of single-adult households with children had arrears on mortgage or rental payments. One in three (33.4%) had arrears on utility bills and three in ten (30.4%) had hire purchase instalments or other loan payment arrears. See figure 5.4 and table 5.4.
Analysis of arrears on mortgage or rental payments by tenure status, shows that in 2025, 3.1% of owner-occupied households with an outstanding mortgage failed, due to financial difficulties, to make one or more mortgage payments on time in the 12-month period prior to their interview date. Of households that pay rent 13.6% failed to make one or more rent payments on time. Rented households were also more likely to have arrears on utility bills with 16.6% of these households failing to make one or more utility bill payments on time in the past 12 months compared with 4.2% of owner-occupied households. Rented households were five times more likely to be in arrears on hire purchase instalments or other loan repayments when compared with owner-occupied households, with 18.2% of rented households and 3.5% of owner-occupied households having missed one or more repayments in the 12-month period prior to their interview date. See figure 5.5 and table 5.5.
In 2025, households living in enforced deprivation were more likely to have arrears on utility bills with almost two in five (38.3%) of these households failing to pay one or more utility bills on time in the past 12 months due to financial difficulties. The comparable rate for households not experiencing deprivation was 2.8%. Three in ten (29.8%) of households living in enforced deprivation that have a mortgage or live in rented accommodation (other than rent-free accommodation) failed to make one or more mortgage or rent payments on time in the past 12 months due to financial difficulties. The comparable rate for those not living in enforced deprivation was 3.1%. See figure 5.6 and table 5.6.
Respondents to the SILC household questionnaire were asked ‘At the end of a typical month, do you’;
In 2025, over half (55.4%) of households could put money aside at the end of a typical month, whereas 36.8% of households don’t have money to put aside or savings to draw from. One in twenty (5.0%) needed to draw money from savings and 2.8% needed to borrow money. These figures remain relatively consistent over the past three years. See figure 5.7 and table 5.7.
Analysis of those households that needed to borrow money at the end of a typical month shows that 13.3% of single-parent households need to borrow money at the end of a typical month, a figure that increased from 12.8% in 2024 and 11.2% in 2023. In comparison 0.1% of two adult households with at least one aged 65 needed to borrow money at the end of a typical month (down from 0.8% in 2024 and 0.4% in 2023). See figure 5.8 and table 5.8.
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