One in four young people in the UK feel it will be impossible to buy their own home without a partner as they need the joint income to be able to afford a property, new research has found.
On average, 45% of young couples living together rent a home and 44% own a home jointly and 22% move in together to save money and will wait four year before deciding to buy, according to the research from Post Office Money.
With the average price of a starter home for a first time buyer having increased by 7% or £12,785 over the last year to £183,385 joint average earnings of £50,000 is needed as the average annual salary of a single person is £27,274, the report explains.
However, despite joining their finances in order to get into their first home, some 34% of young couples owning a home admit they didn’t contribute equally and for some this eventually led to tension in the relationship.
‘Saving towards the purchase of a home can be understandably daunting and the joint effort to reduce your shared cost of living and boost your savings can sometimes lead to friction in a relationship,’ said Owen Woodley, managing director of Post Office Money.
The research also reveals ho cohabiting couples looking to buy together take other steps in order to save money as they try to get on the housing ladder. Some 38% say they save money by mostly socialising together rather than separately while 19% have given up on a personal ambition, such as travelling or a new career.
Other means include 6% living with one of their parents to save money but of these 29% said that while not having to pay rent relieved financial stress 31% found they lacked privacy and 14% felt the parents were scrutinizing their finances.
However, many still need financial help from parents with 19% admitting they were given money to help them pay the majority of their deposit for their first home.
