Housing charity Shelter has claimed that over one million householders are using a credit card to pay their mortgage or rent.

An exclusive YouGov poll for the charity’s ROOF magazine reveals that the highest proportion of those who pay their rent or mortgage through credit card were from working class professions (8% of those in the C2DE social grouping), but the poll also showed that middle/upper class (ABC1 category) are also falling victim, with 4% of respondents saying they use credit cards in this way.

The charity is worried that a number of people could find themselves facing homelessness this year because of their huge debts, especially as defaulting on credit card payments could trigger repossession in the worst case scenario.

The survey asked if respondents had paid their rent or mortgage by credit card in the past 12 months. 6% of those who were liable for the rent or mortgage said yes – suggesting a national figure of more than a million people.

The charity is issuing a stark warning to people about the dangers of using credit cards which could result in the loss of their home. Credit card companies have to recover their debts and are not subject to the same rules as mortgage lenders. Once they obtain a charging order on people’s property, credit card companies can go back to the court for a possession order to force a sale to recover the debt.

Kay Boycott, director of policy and campaigns at Shelter said: “This is a shocking discovery