Benussi Blog

They are being dubbed the “live apartners” and, according to official statistics, there are more than one million of them in Britain.

New research shows that one in 20 couples chooses not to share a home, but to live separately. And it’s a growing trend: the number of men and women “living apart together” has increased by 40 per cent in the last decade.

These include the actress Helena Bonham Carter and film director Tim Burton who have been together for ten years and have two children, but who live in adjoining apartments in London.

The survey, carried out for Halifax Home Insurance, suggests that young couples live apart because they are reluctant to sacrifice their independence, while those who are older have accumulated too much furniture and too many possessions to squeeze into one home.

The Office for National Statistics has put the official number of couples “living apart together” at 1.2million.

It might sound a bit strange, but keeping your own home and independence has many advantages – and can save marriages.

By spending time away from your partner, you have own space – physically and emotionally. Consequently, when you do get together, it feels more special.

Many couples argue or are irritated by each other’s domestic habits – from dropping their socks on the floor to leaving dirty water in the washing up bowl – so having your own home removes this common source of disharmony.

It’s also the case that many couples have different tastes in TV viewing and music and would even prefer to sleep on their own (most of the time!).

Of course, there are disadvantages, the main one being that it is very expensive to run two properties. Also, there’s a danger that a couple will start leading increasingly separate lives and grow further apart.

However, with the property market in the doldrums, couples who do own more than one house or apartment – perhaps through inheritance – and are going through a rocky patch in their relationship could consider becoming “live apartners”. It’s more than possible that, by spending time on their own, they start to appreciate one another again and look forward to the times when they are together.