Breathing Space registrations fall 39% year on year

There were 5,008 Breathing Space registrations in January 2026, 39% lower than in January 2025, according to Insolvency Service statistics published on 17 February 2026¹. The fall followed changes by the largest money advisor group by number of cases, which updated its eligibility and suitability criteria for clients applying for a breathing space¹. The Insolvency Service said numbers of breathing spaces were lower in both December 2025 and January 2026 after that change¹.

The same release recorded 10,843 individual insolvencies in England and Wales in January 2026, 12% higher than in January 2025 but 20% lower than in December 2025, when numbers were affected by a temporary backlog of individual voluntary arrangements (IVAs) agreed in November but not registered until December¹. The total consisted of 780 bankruptcies, 3,847 debt relief orders (DROs) and 6,216 IVAs¹.

DRO numbers in January 2026 were lower than in December 2025 but similar to the historically high levels seen over the past two years, the release said¹. The number of IVAs was slightly higher than the 2025 monthly average¹. Bankruptcies were higher than in December 2025, although numbers were affected by the partial clearing of a backlog following the Insolvency Service moving to a new case management system¹.

In the 12 months ending 31 January 2026, one in 394 adults in England and Wales entered insolvency, a rate of 25.4 per 10,000 adults¹. That was higher than the rate of 24.2 per 10,000 adults, or one in 413, in the 12 months ending 31 January 2025¹.

The release does not name the money advisor group, and it does not set out what the updated criteria are or how many clients were affected. Those details have not been reported¹. The statistics cover England and Wales for individual insolvencies and Breathing Space, with quarterly information for Scotland and separate figures for Northern Ireland¹.

Why it matters for households

Breathing Space gives people in problem debt a period of protection from creditor action while they get advice, and there is a separate route for those in a mental health crisis¹. The January 2026 figures show fewer people entering that protection than a year earlier, at the same time as overall insolvency numbers rose 12% year on year¹.

The change behind the fall came from one advice provider's own eligibility and suitability criteria rather than from the scheme's rules, so the drop reflects who that provider put forward for an application, not a change in what the scheme offers¹. For households, the practical effect is that the route into Breathing Space can depend on which advice service handles a case and on that service's internal criteria, which the release does not describe¹.

The insolvency figures also show the mix of formal options being used. DROs remained near the historically high levels of the past two years, IVAs were slightly above the 2025 monthly average, and bankruptcies rose from December 2025¹. The 12-month rate of one in 394 adults entering insolvency was higher than a year earlier¹.

What happens next

The Insolvency Service publishes individual insolvency statistics monthly, with Breathing Space figures included for England and Wales¹. The next edition had not been published at the time of this release, and no date for it is given in the release¹. Whether Breathing Space registrations recover from the December 2025 and January 2026 levels, and whether the advisor group's criteria change again, has not been reported¹.