One in five house hunters break up when financial secrets come to light – here are six tough questions to ask before taking the plunge
- Young people are most affected: 61% of young people under the age of 25 break up with a partner
- A lack of planning is a major reason many couples get into fights, expert warns
- We reveal a six-point checklist to ask before buying a home together
One in five homeowners has previously broken up with a partner while buying a home together, new report finds.
Breaking up during the buying process has actually happened to some people more than once — 9 percent in all, according to Zoopla
Young people are most affected: 61 percent of young people under the age of 25 who now own their own home split up with a partner while they want to buy together.
Nearly a quarter of existing homeowners who wanted to buy together split up, new research shows
According to the research, a lack of planning is a major reason why many couples get into fights.
But people typically spend more time planning a vacation — 7.8 hours — than planning the search for a home after 5.5 hours, Zoopla said.
The real estate website conducted a survey among 1,000 people who have previously bought a house as a couple. This included existing homeowners who then bought together.
The reasons people break up while buying together include financial secrets coming to light, affected 34 percent.
The process may have also led to the need to have big conversations about the future, such as whether children are on the agenda, which led to 19 percent breaking up.
Meanwhile, 23 percent said their partner became obsessed with money and how much they owned, causing the relationship to break down.
In addition, one in ten got the boot for not being able to meet their financial obligations for buying a house, namely 10 percent.
The idea of buying a house together is more attractive to some people than reality
Quarrels over money are a serious problem for couples when buying a house – even if they don’t break up.
Nearly half, 47 percent, of those who bought a home with their partner argued – four in 10 of all couples, 40 percent, said they disagreed over finances.
As a result of not discussing it beforehand, three in 10 – against 30 percent – of respondents said they or their partner had made incorrect assumptions about who paid what.
Of them, 87 percent said it was about how much they would each put into the down payment, while even more — 89 percent — said it was about how much of the mortgage they would each pay.
Another cause of strife is revealed: 68 percent of those who say they assumed their partner would pay more still expected to own half of the property themselves.
Consequences of not planning
The financial ramifications of not planning are also revealed by the survey, with 46 percent saying they had to move again because they couldn’t agree on a place they both liked when they bought together.
Daniel Copley, from Zoopla, said: ‘There’s no sugar coating on this – looking for the right home can be stressful if you’re not sure what you want and have no plans.
“When two people, with different ideas and different thoughts about finances, do that, the stress is multiplied. As such, many couples who expect to get into discussions about splitting the mortgage end up simply splitting instead.
“However, it doesn’t have to be that way and the vast majority of arguments can be avoided by just discussing everything beforehand.”
Life coach Jacqueline Hurst: ‘Buying a house together can mean that you have to have difficult and ‘big’ conversations with your partner. But the truth is, if you don’t like this kind of conversation, it might not be the right time to buy a house together.
‘Two of the many ‘big’ subjects are finances and children. The thing is, talking to your partner might feel awkward, but it can actually bring you closer together, help you connect, and deepen the relationship.
“It’s normal to be a little scared. My advice is to do it at the right time – during a nice weekend lunch, not when you’re both tired after work.’