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Financial Wellbeing survey - the results
In Spring and Autumn 2023 and earlier this year, we sent out a survey to Members to gather your views on your financial wellbeing and the UK economy, as well as other housing issues. After receiving a large number of responses, we’ve summarised the key findings below.
A summary of results from our latest Financial Wellbeing survey
2,234 Members completed the Spring 2024 survey - a big thank you to everyone who took part!
What does the term 'financial wellbeing' mean to you?
'Financial wellbeing' is generally understood to mean being 'financially comfortable' and 'feeling secure'. Some of our Members defined it as:
“Financial security for the future”
“Having enough money to live a comfortable life”
“Reasonably able to pay bills and to afford other things”
How do you feel about the future, and that of your family?
It’s really good to know that 74% of you felt ‘very happy’ or ‘happy’ with your financial wellbeing and that the majority of you remain optimistic about your financial wellbeing over the next six months.
However, it is a concern to hear that many of you are more pessimistic about the financial wellbeing of your children and grandchildren. Over a third (41%) of you have had to help family members during the cost-of-living crisis.
What are the biggest threats to your financial wellbeing?
The biggest threats to your financial wellbeing were the cost-of-living crisis, worldwide political instability, political instability in the UK and pension values and further change in Bank of England interest rates, as seen in the illustrated graph to the right.
Your thoughts on housing and the economy
Since our Autumn 2023 survey, your confidence in economic growth has increased by 6%.
The majority of you thought that house prices will either stay the same or increase over the next six months, and not unsurprisingly, most thought borrowing costs will be higher when you remortgage.
How can lenders reach Net Zero?
It was really interesting to hear your feedback on what you think lenders should be doing to reach Net Zero targets, with the most popular suggestions being 'reduce energy' (51%) , 'implement green incentives' (52%) and 'switch to renewable energy' (47%). At Family Building Society, we calculate our Carbon Footprint every year to help us understand our impact and how we can make changes, and allow us to calculate how much to offset our carbon by investing in deforestation projects. This year we've also installed solar panels and EV chargers at our Head Office.
How can the Government get more people in to home ownership?
This was a new question added to the recent survey to gather information on what our Members believe is the best means to have more people enter the property ladder. The most popular suggestions were: abolishing stamp duty for downsizers (54%), developing brownfield sites (55%), and providing government incentives for converting unused office spaces to residential use (47%).
Your feedback really helps
We’ll continue to run the survey at regular intervals over the coming years to enable us to track your views, your financial resilience, and that of your family, and to identify any emerging trends. The insight gained will help us to inform key stakeholders and the wider personal finance industry of our Members’ views.
What do you see as the biggest threat to your financial wellbeing?
