Couples who have split up are still physically having to stay together as they are finding it impossible to sell their jointly owned homes.
Couples who have split up are still physically having to stay together as they are finding it impossible to sell their jointly owned homes.
Couples who have separated are being forced to continue living together because of the current state of the housing and mortgage markets brought on by the credit crunch, a divorce lawyer has revealed.
Speaking to The Telegraph, Marilyn Stowe, of the Stowe Family Law firm, said that a growing number of couples in the process of divorce are unable to sell their homes because of the market slowdown.
The situation is further exacerbated by the fact that both parties are finding it hard to secure a new mortgage that would enable them to buy the other's share of the property, resulting in a situation where they are forced to remain living together.
Mrs Stowe told the paper: "For most people, this is a very difficult time because… there is less money available to re-house both parties, it's taking longer to sell the house, it's increasing pressure on the parties who are still having to live together in the same house because they can't afford to live separately."
Meanwhile, leading house-builder Redrow has warned that the trading conditions in the UK housing market are unlikely to improve before 2010 at the earliest, adding that the next 12 months would offer little respite to those trying to sell their homes.
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