Divorce at 40-year low but only because couples can't afford to split

Fewer couples are divorcing than at any time since 1974 because they can't afford to.

Divorce fees and the difficult housing market mean couples are being forced to live together despite ending their relationship.

The number of divorces granted in England and Wales rose in most years from the late Fifties until the Nineties, but since 2003 the number of legal separations has plummeted by 34 per cent from 153,065 to 113,949 in 2009. A survey by the Illicit Encounters website, for people seeking extra-marital affairs, has found that more than 31,000 married couples in London have been put off divorce because they can't afford to move out or pay for legal fees.

Some 38 per cent of the site's 78,000 London members felt the stress of selling their home in the current climate had affected their decision to stay married while 42 per cent were deterred by the cost of the divorce itself. Average legal fees in the UK are an estimated £13,000 but can rise to £50,000 in difficult cases.

Louise Graham, 36, who lives with her husband in Clapham, told the Standard she had been "saving up for a divorce" for two years. "We can't afford to move," she said. "We have separate bedrooms. It isn't unpleasant but it's a difficult situation."

Rosie Freeman-Jones, of Illicit Encounters, said: "We've seen a dramatic rise in membership in London as the recession has forced people to stay in marriages they would rather get out of."