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Those who Live Alone are More Likely to Rent
This article is an external press release originally published on the Landlord News website, which has now been migrated to the Just Landlords blog.
People who live alone are more likely to rent their homes than those living with a partner, ideal flatmate has found.
According to Office for National Statistics (ONS) data, the cost of living alone has hit a huge 92% of the average income, making it far harder for single people to get onto the property ladder.
The figures also show that the number of those who live alone is continuing to rise, up by 16% to 7.7m of all households over the 20 years from 1997-2017. This is projected to hit 10.7m by 2039.
The greatest expenditure for those who live alone is housing costs, including rent and bills.
Households in the 25-64-year-old age range who live alone are less likely to own their own homes than couples, at just 50% of households, compared to 75% respectively.
This means that people who live alone have fewer opportunities to accumulate wealth through purchasing property and paying off a mortgage, with some homeowners having benefitted from significant house price growth.
Tom Gatzen, the Co-Founder of ideal flatmate, says: “While we are currently seeing an upward trend in single occupant living, as a result of a growing population and social factors, such as an increase in divorce rates, we are also seeing a similar increase across other living habits, such as co-living.
“While living alone is more prevalent across older age groups, we’re seeing a growing preference amongst younger generations to live in share households. This is not only helping them to address the financial issues head on, but can also help with other disadvantages associated with living alone, such as a lower level of wellbeing.”
He believes: “If properly considered and developed, this lifestyle trend could go some way in addressing the predicted uplift in those living alone over the next two decades and the negative impact that this could have on this segment of the population.”
