People with disabilities are more likely to struggle to pay their energy, mortgage or rent

More than half (55%) of people with disabilities struggle to afford to pay for electricity Office of National Statistics (ONS), said.

This compares to 40% of adults without a disability who paid their electricity bill between June 22nd and September 11th.

And 36% of people with disabilities said they struggle to afford their rent or mortgage payments, compared to 27% of adults without disabilities who do.

Overall, 45% of all adults who paid their electricity bills and 30% of all adults who paid their rent or mortgage felt that it was difficult to afford.

The ONS analyzed the responses of 13,305 people aged 16 and over Britain track the impact of cost of living increases within their judgments and Way of life Survey.

The findings also show that other groups hit hardest by the cost of living are renters, those who pay for electricity on a pre-paid basis and black or black Britons. Asian or Asian British and mixed or multiple nationality.

People with disabilities were more likely to fall behind on key bills.

Overall, 3% of adults reported having rent or mortgage arrears, and 5% reported having utility bill arrears.

This rose to 4% and 7% of disabled people respectively.

Adults renters were more likely than those paying a mortgage to have trouble affording energy, rent or mortgage payments.

About one in 10 (11%) tenants reported being behind on their electricity bills, and 5% were behind on their rent.

This compares to 3% and 1% of those with mortgages respectively.

And 60% of renters reported struggling to afford their energy bills, compared to 43% of those with a mortgage, while 39% struggle to pay their rent compared to 23% of people struggling to pay their mortgage.

The ONS said the differences seen between renters and people paying a mortgage are likely to be because some of the latter are on fixed rates, while renters “may be more susceptible to increases”.

Two-thirds (69%) of black or black British adults and 59% of Asian or Asian British adults reported struggling to afford their electricity bills, compared with 44% of white respondents.

More than half (52%) of black or black British adults said they struggle to afford rent or mortgage payments, compared with 28% of white respondents.

And a fifth (21%) of black or black British respondents said they were behind on their electricity bill, compared with 4% of white adults.

When it comes to mortgage and rent payments, 9% of black or black British, mixed or multi-ethnic respondents and 8% of Asian or Asian British adults said they were behind.

That compares to 2% of white adults.

The ONS said estimates by ethnicity are based on relatively small sample sizes and should therefore be treated with caution.

Almost three-quarters (72%) of those who pay their electricity bills by prepaid reported difficulties paying for their energy, compared to 42% of those who pay by direct debit or one-off payments.

Adults in the North East and London were more likely to fall behind on energy payments (9% compared to 2%-9% elsewhere) and rent or mortgage payments (5% vs 1%-5% elsewhere).

Londoners were the most likely to say they struggle to pay their rent or mortgage (37%).

The ONS said the capital has a younger demographic than the rest of Britain and the highest average house price.