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First-time Buyers

Want to commit? Get a joint mortgage

Christina Hoghton
Written By:
Christina Hoghton
Posted:
Updated:
27/04/2016

Many Brits regard getting a joint mortgage as a bigger commitment than having a baby

Getting a mortgage is considered more of a commitment than having children or getting married!

At least that’s according to people in five of the UK’s 12 regions when polled by Online Mortgage Adviser.

Over 2,000 Britons aged 18 and over were quizzed about what they felt were the biggest relationship commitments, with surprising results.

When asked to rank joint mortgages, having children together and getting married, a large number put joint mortgages in top place.

A massive 42% of respondents in the East of England considered having a mortgage together to be the biggest commitment, and 41% of Londoners. Those in the East Midlands, Wales, and the North East also thought a mortgage showed the greatest commitment.

In Scotland, the South East and the West Midlands getting married was deemed the biggest commitment. And having a child together was ranked first in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humber, the South West and Northern Ireland.

Trust issues

Of those who stated that they considered having a mortgage together to be the biggest commitment that they could make within their relationship, the top reason cited was that ‘sharing finances requires a lot of trust’ (36%), whilst a further 21% stated that ‘you can always get divorced if a marriage doesn’t work out’.

Pete Mugleston, director of Online Mortgage Advisor, said: “Tying yourself to someone for a long period of time and putting money into something that will belong to both of you equally is not a decision to be taken lightly. Having a joint mortgage is often seen as the new marriage, as there are more legal implications and still a great deal of devotion, as people are willing to make a huge financial investment in their partnership.”