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Divorce rate slows over housing concerns

Jude Buttle

According to recent research, new data seems to indicate that the current economic down-turn has had an unexpected effect with many married homeowners.

The Office of National Statistics says that an unexpected consequence of declining house prices is that the rate of divorce among married homeowners is at its lowest for 26 years in England and Wales.

Researchers from property professional Savills, found that high divorce rates seemed to be linked to high house prices, where a couple may believe that they can afford to split up and either afford to buy out the other party or walk away with a decent share of the equity in their home.

In the current economic climate this option doesn't seem as appealing as the falling house prices have knocked tens of thousands of pounds off the value of a UK property.

Around 6% of all house sales are said to be due to divorce in the prime property market, 13% for houses worth more than £1m and 18% amongst properties worth over £2m.

Lucian Cook, director of research at Savills, said: "As house prices rise home owners undoubtedly feel wealthier and our supposition is that they also feel able to afford to get divorced," he continued. "We forecast that the current falls in property prices - unwelcome and uncomfortable for the majority - will result in fewer divorces, even allowing for the overriding downward trend in the UK's divorce rate."

The research also revealed that couples are more likely to divorce once they have moved out of big urban cities and into the commuter areas.