pic: Low Jianwei

Hackney residents have the second lowest savings of any region in the UK, according to a recent Halifax report.

Figures show the average savings is just £4,256. Only North Lanarkshire, with £3,579, was lower in the whole of the UK.

The Greater London average for savings is £8,734 per person, meaning Hackney is saving less than half of what the average Londoner is managing.

This is in stark contrast with Kensington and Chelsea, which has the second highest savings balance in the UK, with an average of £13,366 put away.

Lewisham was also one of the ten regions with the lowest average savings balances in the UK. The borough is eighth from the bottom spot, with residents saving an average of £5,141 each.

Last week’s report discovered that nine of the 10 districts with the smallest savings to earnings ratio were in London.

Reacting to the figures, Hackney Citizens Advice Bureau said they were “not surprised” by the report: “A minority of our clients actually have any savings”.

CAB said high unemployment and high rents were the main factors that made it “increasingly difficult” for families or individuals to amass any savings.

In March this year Hackney Council launched a London Community Credit Union in Mare Street.

Ian Moseley, Chairman of the LCCU, said: “More than savings and loans, the London Community Credit Union offers members sound financial planning and the tools to grow their savings.”

“On the website, the credit union states that it will “encourage its members to save regularly.”

A Hackney Council spokesman acknowledged that it was “worthwhile” for Hackney residents to make sure they have sound financial plans, especially in the current economic climate. They “supported and welcomed” the opening of the LCCU earlier this year.