According to their newly released data, one in ten (or 11%) of home owners admit that their choice of partner was influenced by their desire to get on the property ladder and among millennials, this kind of decision-making is far more common - with 25% revealing that their choice of partner was influenced by the desire to buy a home.
As part of the study, Trussle interviewed more than 2,000 mortgage borrowers, asking them to what extent their dream of owning a home played a part in big life decisions. The study found that if you’re willing to compromise on love, then maybe you’d also be willing to compromise on your passion too. One in six (15%) admitted that their choice of career had been steered by their ambition to get on the ladder, while one in ten (9%) said they had left a job they enjoyed to earn money elsewhere.
Trussle’s research also showed that, as the journey to home ownership becomes more difficult, the desire to get on the ladder plays an even greater role in life decisions. A recent study claimed that one in three millennials will never own their own home. Among this struggling age group, the proportion of borrowers who say their choice of partner was influenced rises to one in four (25%), while the same proportion (25%) claim they pursued a well-paid career over their passion so that they could buy a home.
A more difficult journey to home ownership may also be encouraging this generation to jump the gun on relationships by buying with partners before they are ready, out of necessity. One in six (16%) millennial mortgage borrowers claimed they had bought with their other half when they would have preferred to buy alone, yet among their parents’ generation, this drops to just one in 50 (2%).
The study also revealed that for men, choice of partner (14%) is more heavily influenced by their desire to own a home compared to women (8%), suggesting that men make more measured decisions about relationships based on their need to own a property.
Ishaan Malhi, founder and CEO of online mortgage broker, Trussle, commented: “We know from speaking to customers that a lot of aspiring home owners already have to sacrifice holidays and social lives to save for a deposit, but when major life decisions are being swayed by the desire to get on the property ladder, something clearly needs to change.
Financial security will always be important when choosing career paths, but a lot of young people now recognise that they’ll need to earn a substantially large salary early on in their careers in order to reach their home ownership dreams.
The mortgage products available are outdated for today’s society. Across the industry, we need to think about creating individual mortgage products based on an individual and take into account personal circumstances including earning trajectory in order to assess realistic affordability and help young adults get a foot on the ladder.”
