Buying a house has become the new ultimate commitment, supplanting marriage as a key life-time display of unionship.

More than a quarter of single first time buyers say that they are postponing buying their first home until they have found Ms or Mr Right, says a survey by Alliance & Leicester.

Almost two fifths said that they viewed a shared mortgage as a sign of live and commitment.

The views held by currently co-habiting rental partners are distinctly less rosy however, with 14 per cent saying that they would not consider buying a home with their partner.

More than a quarter said that the time is not yet right, while almost a fifth said that they would prefer to buy on their own to avoid splitting the profit in a future sale.

"Singletons needn't think that they have to wait for another person to be able to get on the property ladder," said Stephen Leonard of Alliance & Leicester.

"More and more lenders are moving towards assessing how much people can afford by looking at their individual financial circumstances as opposed to more old-fashioned income multiples.

"This will mean a truer reflection of how much people can spend on a mortgage each month," he added.

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