More room to breathe: Building on five years of Breathing Space
More room to breathe: Building on five years of Breathing Space
Debt pressures have escalated in recent years.
In 2025, Citizens Advice supported over 400,000 people with debt – nearly a 45% increase compared with 2021. People we help owe nearly £9,000 on average, a 36% increase over the same timeframe. More and more people need help with wider issues such as housing, work, and family problems alongside debt itself.
Breathing Space was introduced in 2021 to help tackle this rising tide of financial difficulty. A statutory scheme, Breathing Space gives people a short period of legal protection from creditor action while they engage with debt advice. It was designed to relieve the psychological pressures associated with debt and enforcement, stop debts from escalating, and give people the time and space they need to get their debt situation under control.
Breathing Space regulations include a commitment to review the scheme at five-year intervals, with the earliest review completed no later than 4 May 2026. Ahead of that review, this report outlines how the scheme is working in practice and the key issues that need to be addressed. It draws on evidence from Citizens Advice’s frontline services, adviser surveys, case studies and new polling of people in problem debt.
The rationale for Breathing Space remains sound.
Almost 2 in 5 people in problem debt (39%) report feeling overwhelmed by the amount of contact they received from creditors chasing payments for debts or unpaid bills - while among those who also have a mental health condition it’s nearly 3 in 5 (57%).
People with debt problems instinctively recognise the value of temporary protection from creditor action. More than 8 in 10 people in problem debt (82%) who haven’t previously used the scheme agree it would have been helpful to them when they first started dealing with debt. Debt advisers also see it as an extremely useful tool for many of the people they support.
But the scheme isn’t fulfilling its full potential. Take-up remains well below forecast levels, and many advisers say they don’t routinely recommend it to new clients. While low awareness plays a part, the evidence suggests deeper design problems, which make it a poor fit for many current debt situations.
Four limitations stand out.
First, the 60-day limit is often not long enough to stabilise people’s situations, particularly where they have complex debts, negative budgets, or wider issues such as ill health.
Second, the rule that prevents someone having more than one Breathing Space within 12 months creates difficult trade-offs and prevents people who experience repeated financial shocks accessing protection when they most need it.
Third, the exclusion of Universal Credit advances and third-party deductions leaves important gaps in protection for people whose budgets are already under severe strain.
Finally, while most creditors comply, adviser evidence highlights breaches and communication failures that undermine the scheme’s effectiveness.
Breathing Space is an important step forward in providing statutory protections for people seeking debt advice. But the debt landscape has shifted since the scheme was designed, and many people now need longer and more flexible support to stabilise their position. This report sets out how proportionate reforms could help ensure that Breathing Space achieves its intended outcomes and remains a credible, effective tool.
Recommendations:
Ensure people who can bring their debt situation under control, but need more than 60 days to do so, can access additional time
Allow repeat access within 12 months where a person’s circumstances change significantly
Close key protection gaps in relation to Universal Credit advances and debt deductions
Strengthen creditor compliance through clearer reporting requirements, consistent liaison points and more effective enforcement of existing rules