Splits cause pressure on housing market

High divorce statistics and reduced marriage rates mean that an increasing number of people are living alone, adding pressure to prices in the housing market, according to the latest reports.

Mortgage adviser mform have revealed that the past three years has seen 26.2 per cent of property purchases from single people and nearly 40 per cent of new buyers will be single occupiers in the next six months.

Mform predicts that by 2021 35 per cent of households across Britain and Northern Ireland will be occupied by a sole tenant.

Solicitors now deal with around 150,000 divorces every year, which explains why almost ten per cent of 25 to 44-year-olds are currently living alone, compared with only two per cent in 1973.

Francis Gholson, marketing and business development director at mform, said: "If more of us decide to live alone, that means more demand for property. That will place greater pressure on prices, making it more expensive to own a home."

He added: "This will be made all the worse by the fact that there is a growing shortage of homes in the UK. The falling number of marriages is having an effect on the rising number of people buying homes on their own. Similarly, divorce is also contributing."
Contact us for legal advice
 

News Categories