A debt charity has revealed a dramatic rise in people behind with their mortgage payments. StepChange says the average mortgage borrower coming to it for help is just over £12,000 in arrears. The figure marks a more than 70% surge from an average of a little over £7,000 in November 2023. It also highlighted a big increase in people with energy and council tax debts. The discovery comes as some cost of living ravaged households are heading into 2025 drowning in a sea of debt. Despite a sharp