
Getting a joint mortgage is viewed as the biggest commitment for people in the North East, beating the commitment of having children and getting married.
The team at Online Mortgage Advisor undertook the study as part of ongoing research into British attitudes towards the importance of mortgages and how this was perceived compared to other big relationship commitments.
According to the poll, of those who stated that they considered having a mortgage together to be the biggest commitment that they could make within their relationship, as opposed to having children, the top reason cited was that ‘sharing finances requires a lot of trust’ (36 per cent).
A further 21 per cent stated that ‘you can always get divorced if a marriage doesn’t work out’.
One in ten (11 per cent) also stated that they would ‘be happy to be a single parent’ if a relationship fell apart.
More than 2,300 (2,310) Britons aged 18 and over were quizzed for the survey.
The team broke down the answers according to the respondents’ region to reveal the UK breakdown.
Five out of the twelve regions of the UK consider having a mortgage to be the biggest relationship commitment you can make.
The five regions were the East of England, London, the East Midlands, Wales and the North East.
Meanwhile, Scotland, the South East and the West Midlands thought getting married was the biggest commitment in a relationship.
Those in the North West, Yorkshire and the Humberside, South West and Northern Ireland thought having a child was the biggest commitment.
Pete Mugleston, Director of Online Mortgage Advisor, said: “Attitudes have changed over the last 20 to 30 years and, as a result, we are seeing a shift in priorities.
“It’s acceptable now to own a house and live together out of wedlock as people feel increasingly less pressure to make traditional commitments when owning a home is more binding from a legal perspective.
“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.”