Property market 'keeps marriages together'
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Posted: 4th Sep 2008
Problems in the property market could be contributing to a lower rate of divorce in the UK, new research indicates.
Although homeowners are struggling to cope financially with falling house prices, it may be a factor in their marriage's continuing prosperity, Office of National Statistics figures suggest.
There has been a lower rate of divorce than predicted in the past decade, with property values and the strain of separating while owning a house thought to be a major factor in this.
Lucian Cook, director of Savills research, stated: "As house prices rise, homeowners undoubtedly feel wealthier and our supposition is that they also feel able to afford to get divorced.
"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."
In the prime property market, divorce is the cause of six per cent of sales.
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