GROWING numbers of single people are buying their own homes, according to research by the Halifax.

The survey says there has been a substantial rise in the proportion of single homebuyers over the past two decades.

Last year, they accounted for more than four in ten buyers, compared with only a quarter in 1983.

Among first-time buyers in 1983, 30 per cent were single but that had risen to 51 per cent by last year.

Group economist Martin Ellis attributed the move to changing social trends.

He said: "At one end, people are deciding to get married and start families later in life, meaning young people stay single for longer, and at the other end, we have more divorces. People are also living longer."

Most regions across the UK have proportions of single buyers close to the national average of 41 per cent. But in London and Scotland the percentage is higher, at 50 per cent and 45 per cent respectively.

The number of single women buying their own homes rose from eight per cent in 1983 to 17 per cent last year, which the Halifax attributed to greater financial and economic independence.