Much has been made about the huge amount of debt in the UK but the reality is that this debt is easily unwritten by the housing market.

Brits in the UK owe £1.2tn in mortgages. On top of that they have another £220bn borrowed on credit cards and personal loans. But the £1.2tn in mortgage debt is more than matched by the value of the UK’s housing stock which according to Halifax at the end of last year stood at £4tn.

OK so the housing market has been on the slide of late but the dent has only been around £100bn off the market according to Halifax based on the market dropping 2.5% since the end of last year.

The equity built up by homeowners in their property, analysts say, could even withstand a 35% drop in real terms similar to that that occurred in the property crash of the early 90s. The reality of anywhere near that kind of correction is thought to be not really

Brits it seems do not take much stopping when it comes to racking up the debt. Few other nations have maxed out on debt in the same way as Britain - apart from the US, who appear to be facing the prospect of a recession.