When 2 Is a Crowd ; Financial Anxiety May Be Leading to a Rise in the Divorce Rate, but with Pricey Settlements and the Housing Market in Turmoil, Many Couples Are Being Forced to Continue Living Under One Roof. So How Are They Coping, Asks Kate Hilpern?

Summary

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Separated but living together (SBLT) may not have the same ring to it as GSOH, but anyone scouring the lonely hearts columns may as well get used to the fact that in these lean times, increasing numbers of divorcing couples are having to stay under the same roof. The slowdown in the property market means that couples often cannot sell their house, even after their divorce has gone through the courts, while tightened lending restrictions mean it can be nearly impossible to secure a mortgage to enable one party to buy the other's share of the property or buy a separate property. For many couples, including middle-class professionals, the credit crunch means they cannot even afford the divorce itself.

Beauty therapist Rachel Prescott, 35, and her ex-husband cut their divorce costs using quickiedivorce.com, but still did not have enough money for one of them to move out of the matrimonial home for a year following their decision to separate. 'My studio is in the home, so moving out wasn't an option for me, but I couldn't afford to buy my husband out of the mortgage right away. The problem was he couldn't afford to move out until I'd done that, so we were stuck. Thankfully, we had a spare room.' Although Rachel, who lives in Hertfordshire, describes their split as amicable, the 12 months were far from easy. 'Once you decide to separate, you want to start your new life. It stopped me dating and I didn't feel I could socialise at home. Then there were the little things such as washing and ironing. Do you get petty and say, "I'm not doing yours, even though it's in the basket"? Do you say, "I'm only cooking my dinner, not yours"? I didn't feel comfortable with that, so we were still living much of our lives like a couple.'

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When 2 Is a Crowd ; Financial Anxiety May Be Leading to a Rise in the Divorce Rate, but with Pricey Settlements and the Housing Market in Turmoil, Many Couples Are Being Forced to Continue Living Under One Roof. So How Are They Coping, Asks Kate Hilpern?

Elizabeth Western, 36, from Hampshire, and her husband of ten years broke up in the summer of 2007. They decided to sell their house to split the equity and pay for a divorce. 'But despite dropping the price twice, we still haven't sold,' she says. 'So we're stuck in a situation where we're still not divorced and, although we try to maintain a reasonable front with each other in front of our six-year-old daughter, underneath it's very strained. The emotional impact is massive and sometimes I feel like tearing my hair out. My only saving grace is that since I've...

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