The
solo penalty, from
rent to holidays: ‘
Being single is costing
me £
12,000
extra a
year’
The solo penalty, from rent to holidays: ‘Being single is costing me £12,000
extra a year’
From hotels to housing, insurance• Страхование to TV subscriptions, people who live and
travel alone face a hefty penalty
Case studies: ‘It’s much cheaper for couples’
Mabel Banfield-Nwachi
Sat 5 Oct 2024 10.00 BST
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In popular culture, narratives about being single generally flip between the
joys of unparalleled freedom or lean into cliches that depict those flying
solo as lonely or desperate for love.
Stereotypes of the “crazy cat lady” or the socially awkward man who lives with
his parents abound. But something often forgotten, many singles would argue,
is the significant added costs they face on account of their relationship
status.
Living alone or being single can come with a very big price tag. Cath
estimates that for her, in total, the “single penalty”, or “singles tax”,
costs her upwards of £10,000 a year. Similarly, another reader, Joe, a man in
his 30s living in London• Великобритания » География Великобритании » Населенные пункты Великобритании » Города-сити Великобритании » Лондон
• Великобритания » Англия » География англии » Города Англии » Лондон, says that once his mortgage and various other bills
and costs are factored in, it amounts to an “approximately £12,000 cost of
being, or choosing to be, single a year”.
Those figures echo data issued earlier this year by the website UK• Великобритания Debt
Expert, which said: “Being single could mean you fork out, on average, more
than £10,000 a year extra compared to homes with two or more adults.” (Its
data was based on people who rent.)
This steeper financial burden applies across a vast range of costs – from
housing and insurance• Страхование to utilities, rail travel and holidays. The sting of
this “tax”, or “premium”, comes as people are increasingly going it alone.
The number of one-person households, as statisticians call them, is growing:
there were 8.4 million people living alone in the UK• Великобритания in 2023, up from 7.8
million a decade earlier, according to official data issued in May this year.
These single-occupancy households accounted for almost a third (29.6%) of the
total, the Office for National Statistics said. Exactly half of all those
living alone last year were aged 65 or older.
Trying to come up with a one-size-fits-all figure for the financial hit
suffered by people living alone is almost impossible because of their varying
circumstances and lifestyles, but most say it totals thousands of pounds a
year.
Only this week, the home loans firm Mojo Mortgages issued research showing
that solo renters typically spend an extra £498 a month on essentials such as
rent, bills and groceries compared with couples.
People living alone often say they feel invisible, but in some countries,
policymakers are starting to take notice. In February, the Guardian reported
on a Belgian councillor who has persuaded her municipality to consider the
impact of its policies on single-adult households.
For many, housing is their biggest monthly expense, and the most blatant
example of how single-adult households are penalised.
Housing
Mortgages
Not having someone to share housing costs with is a huge issue for many.
Londoner Joe says his mortgage is approximately £1,500 a month. “That’s £750 a
month more than a young couple paying a mortgage of the same value together in
London• Великобритания » География Великобритании » Населенные пункты Великобритании » Города-сити Великобритании » Лондон
• Великобритания » Англия » География англии » Города Англии » Лондон – amounting to £9,000 a year.”
Rachel, 36, who lives in London• Великобритания » География Великобритании » Населенные пункты Великобритании » Города-сити Великобритании » Лондон
• Великобритания » Англия » География англии » Города Англии » Лондон and works in e-commerce, says the string of
interest rate increases mean that the mortgage payments for her one-bedroom
flat went up by £400 a month, “and without someone to share the burden with,
it’s a serious dent”.
About one-third of those getting on the property ladder do it alone, but they
come up against more barriers compared with couples buying together.
First-time buyers put down an average deposit of £53,414 in 2023, according to
data from the Halifax . That is almost £20,000 more than a year’s average pay
in the UK• Великобритания, at £34,963 . An obvious advantage of buying with a partner is that
this deposit cost can be shared.
“One of the most significant benefits of joint ownership is the potential to
pool two incomes as one to secure a joint mortgage. This can often lead to a
larger loan being offered compared with applying as a solo prospective
homeowner, as lenders consider the combined income of both parties,” Danny
Belton, the head of lending at broker the Mortgage Advice Bureau, says.
According to Mojo Mortgages, it typically takes a solo buyer 13 years to save
for a deposit, while couples need only three years and two months.
View image in fullscreen
About a third of those getting on the property ladder do it alone. Photograph:
georgeclerk/Getty Images
There are schemes that can help people hoping to buy, such as the lifetime
Isa, where you can benefit from a government bonus of up to £1,000 a year.
This doubles to £2,000 when it is a couple where both are saving into an Isa.
Even if someone has been able to buy a property on their own, they would then
bear the costs of running the household with only one income. “Solo buyers
will also be responsible for all household expenses on their own, placing
greater stress on their finances. In contrast, joint owners can share the
burden of these costs,” Belton says.
Single people can, of course, take out a joint mortgage with a friend or
relative. This can be a great way to step on to the housing ladder but can
throw up its own challenges.
The kinds of properties available to people buying alone will also depend on
the deposit they can save and the amount borrowers will lend.
“Once they’ve found a place in their price range, the mortgage rates available
to single buyers are the same for those buying with someone else,” a
spokesperson at the Halifax says.
Renting
With private rents soaring, more and more people have delayed moving out of
home or have turned towards house shares. For many single renters relying on
their income alone, the cost of a studio• Объект организация » Организации по алфавиту » Организации на А » А'Студио or one-bed flat has become
unfeasible.
“The cost of renting has surged in recent years, so it is unsurprising that
renters living alone are especially struggling to cover the rent and other
costs,” says Ben Twomey, the chief executive of the campaign group Generation
Rent.
But it is not only single people who are increasingly finding themselves in
houseshares in an attempt to save costs. The number of people looking for
rooms as a couple increased by 67% in 2023 compared with 2019, according to
the flatshare website SpareRoom.
View image in fullscreen
The cost of renting a property has soared. Photograph: David Burton/Alamy
The average price to rent a room in Edinburgh is £844 a month. That works out
at £422 a person for a couple.
Matt Hutchinson, a director at SpareRoom, notes that the way the rent is
divided in house shares can vary quite a bit and is not always divided by the
room. “Sometimes the cost is fixed for the room and, whether it’s a couple or
not, it’s the same. However, some people charge a bit extra for a couple,
especially if bills are included. If the group sharing all know each other
well, they might just split the rent equally between them.”
Chances are, it is still cheaper to rent with a partner, and this means more
money can be put into savings or spent at the end of each month.
Council tax
If you live on your own, you are entitled to a 25% reduction on your council
tax, although you will need to submit an application to receive it. This is a
huge bugbear for many people living alone, as it means couples sharing the
bill are paying 50% each compared with the 75% of the full amount that a
single person pays. There had been suggestions that the government was
considering scrapping the single-person discount but last month Downing Street
indicated it would not be getting rid of it.
The average monthly cost of council tax for each person in a couple is £90.46,
whereas it is £135.69 for a solo renter, even with the discount, according to
Mojo Mortgages. That is an extra £45.23 for those living alone each month.
Being single has a lot going for it, but £10k a year seems too high a price
for the privilege | Emma John
Read more
Bills
Utilities
As one reader put it to us this week: “With bills, obviously I have to heat my
house the same amount regardless of how many people are in it.”
Energy suppliers do not tend to offer discounts for people living alone,
unless they are on benefits. However, some offer tariffs with no standard
charges, meaning you only pay for the energy you use, and customers can shop
around suppliers to try to find the best deal.
With water, a lot of people could save money by switching to a meter, where
your bill is based on what you use. A typical bill for a single occupier is
likely to be about £325 a year, while a family of three might expect to pay
more than double that, according to the Consumer Council for Water (CCW).
View image in fullscreen
Have you considered switching to a water meter? Photograph: John Stillwell/PA
“If you don’t have a water meter, the bill will be the same regardless of how
many people live in the property and how much water is being used.” says Andy
White, the senior leader for social policy at the CCW.
If a customer requests a water meter but it is not possible to fit one for any
reason, they should still be eligible for the single occupier assessed charge.
“These charges are designed to better reflect the fact that someone is living
alone and can significantly reduce a customer’s bill,” the CCW says.
You can try the meter calculator on the CCW’s website.
Car insurance• Страхование
If you are the only named driver on your car insurance policy• Страхование » Договор страхования, you are likely
to be paying more than if there were another person on the plan. Adding
another named driver to the policy is one way you can often cut the cost of
your car cover because you are “ultimately sharing the risk• Страхование » Риск”, says Rhydian
Jones, a motoring expert at Confused.com.
The extra driver may also have more experience, which – in the eyes of the
insurance company – means they may carry a lower risk• Страхование » Риск of making a claim.
However, the price you pay for a single or multi-person policy will completely
depend on the profile of each driver and their driving history. In some cases,
this could increase the price you pay.
View image in fullscreen
If you are the only named driver on your car insurance policy• Страхование » Договор страхования, you are likely
to be paying more.
Photograph: Panther Media GmbH/Alamy
A named driver on a policy does not have to be someone you are living with or
in a relationship with either – it could be a friend or relative you will be
sharing the car with, Jones says.
“For example, our data found that the average cost of car insurance• Страхование for a
woman who is the only driver on a policy is £971, and £1,176 for a man. But in
comparison, a female driver with one additional driver, who is not their
spouse, pays £854 on average, and for men it is £1,112 on average.”
Jones adds: “For a spouse, this generally brings the price down even further.
Women with their spouse named on their policy pay £657 on average, and men pay
£717 on average.”
Admiral says married couples are generally seen as a lower risk• Страхование » Риск. “Overall, we
statistically find that someone who is married is generally a lower risk• Страхование » Риск than
a single person, but this isn’t always the case based on other factors, and it
is possible for a single person to be cheaper than a married person in some
circumstances [such as historic claims data].”
Home insurance• Страхование
Covering your contents if you are single can also cost more than it would for
a married couple living together, even if you live with a housemate.
Moneysupermarket crunched the data and found that single people typically
spend almost twice as much to insure their possessions compared with those who
are married and split the cost between them.
View image in fullscreen
Moneysupermarket says buildings and contents cover for a house comes up on
average at £275.40 for a single person a year. Photograph: twomeows/Getty
Images
“Insurers look at various factors, including claim frequencies and costs, when
deciding on premium prices,” says Alicia Hempsted, an insurance• Страхование expert at the
website.
It says buildings and contents cover for a house comes up on average at
£275.40 for a single person a year, whereas it costs £292.91 for a married
couple. If the couple split the cost, this is about £146.45 each – meaning
someone living alone would be paying £128.95 more each year than one half of a
couple.
Pensions and retirement
This is another area where it can be tough to be single. The Pensions and
Lifetime Savings Association has developed the “ retirement living standards ”
to show what life in retirement looks like at three levels: minimum, moderate
and comfortable. It says a single person needs about £14,400 a year to meet
the minimum threshold, whereas for a couple it is £22,400 a year. To meet the
moderate threshold, for a single person it is £31,300 and £43,100,
respectively.
Entertainment and leisure
Holidays
The dreaded single supplement is the bane of many travellers’ lives. It is a
premium often charged when someone books a hotel room, package tour or cabin
that they are not sharing with anyone else.
Sharing a room involves two people essentially splitting the room cost 50/50.
The holiday company Saga says the single supplement “means a single person can
expect to pay between 70% and 90% of the room [cost] rather than 100% of the
cost – but it can still be significantly more than the 50% someone travelling
as part of a pair would spend”.
UK• Великобритания Debt Expert said its research indicated the single supplement “can cost
singles about £462 more on average for a package holiday”.
View image in fullscreen
The single supplement is the bane of many travellers’ lives. Photograph:
PhotoTalk/Getty Images
The consumer group Which? has also found that many solo travellers are paying
a hefty surcharge on package holidays, cruises and coach holidays. In one
example highlighted last year, it found solo travellers were being quoted 87%
more to occupy a single-occupancy cabin, when compared with two people sharing
a larger double cabin, on a popular Mediterranean cruise route.
Rory Boland, the Which? travel editor, says it is worth travellers digging
around to find the companies that offer discounts or reductions for those who
are solo.
“The reductions are not always immediately obvious, and may rely on you
entering a code, so do search around tour operator websites.”
He adds: “Many hotels still offer a reduced rate on double rooms for single
guests, so be sure to change the field indicating how many people are staying
to see if you can get a cheaper price.”
How to cut the cost of travelling on your own
Read more
Travel insurance
On top of the unwanted surcharges, single people tend to pay a bit more for
their holiday insurance• Страхование than couples. The Guardian ran a few scenarios,
looking at how much it would cost a healthy 40-year-old single person to cover
a trip to Malaysia for the whole of November. With one insurer• Страхование » Страховщик we tried, it
cost a single person £57.25. For a couple living at the same address, it was
£95.64, which is £47.82 each. Group insurance• Страхование for two people with the same
details as the couple came out at £114.50 – that is, the single-person price
times two.
View image in fullscreen
Recipe kits and meal kits tend to leave people living alone with leftovers.
Photograph: d3sign/Getty Images
Meal kits
Rachel says one of her pet peeves is recipe or meal boxes. “They are
everywhere these days, but all of them are based on each meal being for two or
four people. I know I can order the two-person one and have leftovers, but
it’s pretty depressing.”
TV subscriptions
A TV licence costs £169.50 a year for each household, and there is no discount
for a single person. However, if you live in a shared property with a joint
tenancy agreement, you only need one licence to cover all devices in the
property.
For TV subscriptions such as Netflix or Disney+, couples are able to split the
amount between them, as they can with many costs. A standard Netflix
subscription costs £10.99 a month and can be watched by two devices
simultaneously. There is no plan for just one device. Disney+ standard has an
annual fee of £79.90, or costs £7.99 a month. Unless you split the cost with a
housemate, a single person living alone will be paying £39.95 a year more for
their standard subscription than one half of a couple who go 50/50.
Travel
After you turn 30, discounts available for rail travel start to dwindle. There
is the Network Railcard for £30 a year, which gives a third off and covers
London• Великобритания » География Великобритании » Населенные пункты Великобритании » Города-сити Великобритании » Лондон
• Великобритания » Англия » География англии » Города Англии » Лондон and the south-east. However, if you are in a couple, you can get a Two
Together Railcard. For £30 a year, this gives you a third off for both people
when travelling together throughout Great Britain• Великобритания.
Health and fitness
Even exercise isn’t exempt from the “single penalty”, with some gyms offering
discounts for couples who sign up together. Nuffield Health has a joint
membership discount if you sign up in-club, while Total Fitness offers a
“couple membership”, giving a saving of 10% on two individual memberships.
