RETURN TO LENDER: Sheffield folk will start 2017 £100 poorer thanks to owing "friends"

The average Sheffield resident will see in the new year £100 out of pocket with 42 per cent of us having lent unreturned cash during 2016.
Sheffield social lenders are coning it in!Sheffield social lenders are coning it in!
Sheffield social lenders are coning it in!

Other key findings from peer-to-peer lending platform Flender's survey are:

Almost a quarter (23%) of us have fallen out with friends over money

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57% would use an app if it made it safer and more reliable to lend cash

UK lending between friends & family is worth almost £3 billion a year

Research also reveals half of us have lent up to £500 and almost one in 20 (4%) shelled out princely sum of over £5,000.

The shock stats are published by www.flender.co.uk Flender lending platform that enables consumers to formalise finance through social network connections

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Most (95%) of us have never charged interest to anyone we know but almost half would consider doing so. Over half of us think the fair amount to charge in interest would be 1% while 89% of people think amassing up to 5% interest is acceptable.

Almost a quarter (24%) lent money because they felt the recipient was desperate while, for 23%, it was a case of honour as in returning a past favour

Some 18% admitted they felt obligated to lend money to a relative but only 8% felt the same responsibility toward friends. A total of 42% haven’t had loans returned.

Many more women have lent money in the past 12 months - 12 per cent as opposed to eight per cent of men. The female of the species is also more likely (46%) than male (41%) to pluck up courage to borrow. Most popular amount for guys is £20 while gals go for £100.

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Reported 84% of under 35s having lent in the last year in comparison to 69% of over 35s. But only 36% of over 35s have borrowed from friends and family in the past year while this figure for under 35s is a sizable 62%.

Flender co-founder & MD Kristjan Koik commented: "Asking people you know for your money back is awkward and often leaves people out of pocket. The last thing people need during an expensive December is unreturned loans from friends and family.

“The social lending market among friends, family and business connections has never been formalised, which is crazy when you consider that this is a market worth just under £3 billion a year.”

Company co-founder and sales director Oli Cavanagh continued: "No one wants to ask a relative for a missed payment at this time of year. Our platform helps ensure that this awkward situation doesn’t arise".

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The company's https://www.seedrs.com/flender crowdfunding campaign, live on Seedrs platform until January 17, has already raised £465,171 with the app expected to go live for consumers in the new year.