Residents in an area with a Milton Keynes postcode have the 7th highest level of personal debt in the UK, a new survey has revealed. 

Although MK42 is in the Bedford area, for the purposes of this survey it was classed as a ‘Milton Keynes’ postcode.

The debt figures were compiled by the British Bankers’ Association and the Council of Mortgage Lenders, covering around 9,000 postcode sectors.

They revealed that total outstanding mortgage debt in South West London alone is at similar levels to that for the whole of Wales.

The report cautioned that the borrowing levels shown are not an indication of the “financial health” of borrowers because people with comparatively high incomes are more likely to be granted and to take out bigger loans.

Mainly industrial areas of Britain are unlikely to see high levels of personal loans, it said. Nor do the figures indicate current demand for loans as they are made up of borrowing agreements which have been made in the past as well as debt which has been taken out more recently.

You can explore the value of lending per postcode area using the map below for the Q2, Q3 and Q4 periods of 2013.

View MK Debt in a full screen map

The figures covered around 9,000 postcodes, also showed that the total outstanding mortgage debt in south west London alone is at similar levels to that for the whole of Wales.

Altogether, at the end of last year Britain held £902 billion-worth of outstanding mortgage debt, with almost £232 billion of that held in London.