Women lead mortgage revolution

THE Bridget Jones generation of single, financially independent women is now responsible for almost a quarter of all new mortgages.

The figure has more than doubled over 20 years, and compares with the 9.8% of home loans taken out by single women in 1983.

The increase, reported by the Halifax mortgage bank, identifies a dramatic shift in lifestyles, as young women increasingly put independence, career and property ahead of families and children.

The latest figures will strike a chord with the army of young working women attempting to juggle jobs, love and family life just like Bridget Jones - played by Renee Zellweger in the movies based on the novels by Helen Fielding.

The Bridget Jones generation is a world apart from British women a century ago.

Indeed it was only in the 19th century that women were allowed to own their own homes. Until The Married Women' s Property Act of 1882, common law in Britain deprived women of the right to keep their own property or even hold money of their own.

Although women over 21 gained the right to vote in 1928, as late as the 1970s working women were refused mortgages in their own right because few were employed continuously. They were granted mortgages only if they could secure the signature of a male guarantor.

Craig Donaldson, head of mortgage products at the Halifax, said: 'Women's role in society has changed immensely since the early 1900s and it wasn't until the 1960s and 1970s 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.'

Caroline Smith, a 29-year-old lawyer, was delighted when she bought her first home alone last year. She used her savings plus a contribution from her parents to raise a 10% deposit on a £ 250,000 one-bedroom flat in Baron's Court, West London.

'Because women have more financial independence, I think they have more confidence to do things on their own and don't now feel they have to wait for a partner in their life before taking major steps like buying a home,' she said.

The number of single-person households has soared from around 17% to around 31% over the last 30 years.