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Tighter lending conditions and a lack of ready money in some households have created natural conditions for a surge in lending between friends and relatives, but “social” lending carries risks — with money and relationships at stake. So, where friendship is involved, is it best to follow Polonius’s advice to “neither a borrower nor a lender be”?

Sasha McNuff, 21, of Manchester, doesn’t think so. She says: “I borrowed £2,000 from my grandparents last year to clear my credit card. They had lent me smaller sums before and knew that they could trust me. We agreed on interest-free repayments of £200 a month, but they were flexible when I asked for extra time on a couple of the repayments. The money was a big help because my credit rating at the time meant that I could not have got a loan from commercial lenders. I have now repaid it all, am debt-free and in a good position to start saving.”