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Join Which? MoneyBeing single vs in a couple – does your relationship status affect your finances?
Watch our video to see how couples can use the marriage allowance tax perk to
save money
Single people spend an average of £860 more each month than people in couples, according to investment firm Hargreaves Lansdown.
If you live alone, household expenses will inevitably be higher if you don't have anyone else to split them with.
But there are other ways in which single people end up paying more, from facing higher costs and less choice on holidays to ineligibility for certain tax breaks, such as marriage allowance.
Here, we look at how these costs add up and reveal the perks you could be missing out on, whether you're single or in a couple.
How much do single people spend?
According to Hargreaves Lansdown, the main reason it costs more to be single is because there is nobody to split costs with. The table below shows some of the costs its research outlined, showing how much more expensive household costs can be for someone living alone.
| Expense | Monthly cost | Individual price when single | Individual price in a couple |
|---|---|---|---|
| Internet (featuring data from MoneySuperMarket) | £33 | £33 | £16.50 |
| Council tax (average Band D) | £164 | £123 | £82 |
| Energy bill (including current Energy Price Guarantee) | £208 | £208 | £104 |
| TV licence | £159 | £159 | £79.50 |
| Rent (featuring data from Rightmove, outside London) | £1,162 | £1,162 | £581 |
| Popular entertainment subscriptions | Netflix: £6.99 for one screen, £10.00 for two; Spotify: £9.99 for individual, £13.99 for duo; Amazon Prime: £8.99 | £26 | £16.50 |
| Food and drink (featuring data from the ONS) | Estimate based on average household spend of £268 a month, and average household size of 2.4 | £140 | £111 |
Source: Hargreaves Lansdown
Of course, if you're single and live with a housemate – or several housemates – you could save money by splitting household bills and living expenses.
Tax
There are several tax benefits to being in a couple, but most of them are reserved for those who are either married or in a civil partnership.
Thanks to marriage allowance, married couples and civil partners with income below the personal allowance (£12,570 in 2022-23) can reduce their tax bill by transferring £1,260 of their personal allowance to their partner.
The higher-earning spouse, who must be a basic-rate taxpayer, is essentially able to add this extra amount to their own personal allowance, meaning they can earn more income before having to pay tax on it. This reduces the amount of tax the couple has to pay.
There's also married couple's allowance, which can benefit those who are married or in a civil partnership where at least one partner was born before 6 April 1935. This tax break reduces your tax bill by 10% of the allowance you're entitled to, which is a minimum of £364 in 2022-23.
Married couples can also benefit from inheritance tax laws, which allow spouses to make use of each other's tax allowances without the need for special tax planning.
Capital gains tax can also be reduced, by transferring assets into joint names and effectively pooling both partners' tax-free CGT allowances.
- Find out more: marriage allowance explained
Household bills
Council tax bills are calculated on the assumption that two adults live in a household; as a result, single adults can apply for the single-person discount. This grants you 25% off your bill, which is handy, but you'll still end up paying more than a couple who are living together and splitting the bill in half.
The average council tax bill for a band D property in England for the 2022-23 financial year is £1,966. With a single-person discount this would go down to £1,474.50. But two people living together would pay just £983 each – a difference of £491.50.
Sadly, there are no single-person discounts for other household bills such as utilities, internet and even subscriptions.
To get around this, people often share subscriptions with friends and family members they do not live with. Netflix, though, has begun to crack down on this practice and changes are due to roll out in the UK this spring.
You could still save money with these 11 ways to save money on your subscriptions.
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Rising interest rates, record house prices and the cost of living crisis have made it tough for sole-purchasers, sparking an uptick in first-time buyers taking out joint mortgages in 2022.
The majority of first-time buyers have been priced out of the market if they wish to buy solo, with the average deposit being put down rising to £62,470 during 2022 in the UK, according to Halifax.
It also means you may not get the mortgage you require for a property, as most lenders will only allow you to borrow a maximum of 4.5 times your annual income.
However, you could look into getting a joint mortgage with a family member or friend, either through a joint tenancy or tenants in common.
It can also be expensive to rent on your own, which is why so many people choose to join flatshares.
Find out more: is it possible to buy a home on your own?
Leisure and travel
Some gyms offer discounted memberships if you sign up with a partner, and many other types of memberships offer couples discounts, too.
For example, National Trust offers an individual membership for £76.80 a year or a joint membership for £127.20. This means a couple would pay £63.60 each, £13.20 less than an individual membership.
Couples can also take advantage of a ‘Two Together’ railcard, which cuts the cost of travel by a third on off-peak journeys. It costs £30 a year.
Although other railcards exist for single travellers, they are usually restricted by age, such as 16-25 and 26-30, whereas the Two Together card can be used by travellers of any age.
While the Two Together card is not restricted to couples, if you’re single it may be less likely you'll travel with one other person regularly enough to take advantage of the discount.
- Find out more: how to get cheap train tickets
Holidays
Solo travellers are routinely paying over the odds for package holidays, cruises and coach holidays, according to research from Which? Travel.
Those travelling alone are often forced to pay an extra sum of money – known as a single supplement – to occupy a double room alone.
Our investigation found solos who book a package holiday with Tui will pay 47% more on average than a person travelling as a pair.
To save money when travelling alone, it can pay to book outside of peak times and use companies that waive the single supplements.
Who has it better?
The HL Savings and Resilience Barometer found that single people are worse off than their coupled-up counterparts across the board. It’s particularly tough for single parents, who have the burden of extra costs like childcare.
The research found that single people tend to have less in savings, and less cash left over at the end of the month. This can mean they'll pay the price over the long term as well, due to being less likely to build up equity in a property or save enough for retirement.
While unmarried couples who live together can save money by halving the bills and the rent, they’re not eligible for tax perks that are only available to those who are married or in a civil partnership.
On the other hand, although married couples can qualify for these perks, it’s worth factoring in what happens should the relationship end.
