First-time mortgages 'taken up by single women'

Tuesday, June 15th 2010

An increasing number of young women are getting a foot on to the property ladder before purchasing with a partner or husband, new figures have revealed.

Research by the Santander banking group shows while in the 1980s only ten per cent of first-time buyers were single, this figure has shot up to 37 per cent in the past five years.

Sarah Macdonald Smith, an associate at Strutt and Parker estate agency, told the Times young people nowadays are "relishing the freedom of living on their own".

She continued: "So, if they do settle down with someone else who has done the same, they can both sell up - and jump a rung up the housing ladder."

Meanwhile, further research from the bank shows the average first-time buyer spends a typical £3,782 on kitting out their home.

However, one in six of this group of purchasers manage to spend less than £1,000 on furniture and decorating their first property.