Over 1m use credit cards to pay mortgage or rent

More than one million householders in the UK have used credit cards to pay their mortgage or rent in the past 12 months, according to a survey by homeless charity Shelter.

The YouGov poll revealed the highest proportion of those who pay their rent or mortgage by credit card were from working class professions (8%). However, it revealed those from the middle and upper classes are also doing so, with 4% of respondents from the ABC1 social category reporting they use credit cards in this way.

Those living in the capital were most liable to use plastic to pay their mortgage or rent; with 1 in 12 Londoners using credit cards to do so.

Although the financially savvy might use credit cards to pay rent or mortgages to take advantage of air miles and other perks, the charity is advocating caution in the practice  because credit card companies are not subject to the same rules as mortgage lenders.

Once a credit card company obtains a charging order on a property, they can go back to the court for a possession order to force a sale to recover the debt, triggering repossession in the worse case scenario.