Separating couples cannot afford mortgages
Couples who split up from their long-term partners are struggling to make ends meet, new research finds.
Steadily increasing house prices and deepening personal debt of a collective £1 trillion last summer, means that many singletons cannot afford to leave their partner.
Nearly 33 per cent of women couldn't afford to keep up mortgage repayments if they split from their partner, a Skipton Building Society survey has revealed, while 16 times as many women as men said they would have to rely on their ex for financial support.
Relying on a partner was also shown to be restrictive and binding, as one person in eleven said that they would be more likely to leave their partner if money wasn't an issue.
Many Britons blame the expensive property market with its financial repercussions, for the reason that most couples stay together.
Three quarters of the population believe having large amounts of equity in a property keeps couples together as it becomes difficult to buy out a partner, and around 67 per cent blame high property prices directly for the rise in unhappily cohabiting couples.
"There's no doubting two incomes are better than one and by sharing the cost of living, couples can have a nicer lifestyle - but at what cost to their relationship?" said Jennifer Holloway, head of media relations at Skipton Building Society. | 
