Impact of single women on first-time buyers market

Bridget Jones-style singletons are a growing force in the housing market - with the number of women buying their first home alone more than doubling in 20 years, according to figures published today.

The proportion of mortgages taken out by single women has risen from

9.8 per cent in 1983 to 23.1 per cent last year, said the Halifax.

The phenomenon is leading many estate agents to change the way they market their properties.

According to the Office of National Statistics, 56 per cent of men and only 37 per cent of women in England aged 20 to 24 live at home with their parents.

Craig Donaldson, head of mortgage products at Halifax, said: "Women's role in society has changed immensely since the early 1900s, and it wasn't until the Sixties and Seventies that women really became a force in the housing market.

"Research shows that women are typically more independent than men, leaving home at an earlier age and, increasingly, buying their first homes alone."