How Australia’s housing crisis is pushing couples to the brink

Australia’s chronic housing shortage and cost of living crisis is forcing many couples to stay together long after the relationship has ended.Research shows almost 20 per cent of separated or divorced Australians are still living with their ex because neither party can afford sell the marital home.The data, compiled by the Real Insurance Separation Report 2026, also showed 42 per cent of people still living with their ex are only doing so because they can’t afford to live on their own even if the house was sold.Queenslanders were the most likely to be stuck under the same roof, with 48.1 per cent saying separated people were remaining in the home together because they couldn’t afford to live apart.New South Wales followed on 45.4 per cent, then South Australia and the Northern Territory on 44.4 per cent, Victoria and Tasmania on 42.4 per cent, and Western Australia on 17.1 per cent.It is an issue not unique to Australia, however, and highlighted by the story of a woman who has been stuck living at home with a husband she wants to divorce but can’t afford to.“My husband cheated on me more than 20 years ago. He has kept in touch with the woman since then. Sixteen months ago, she told...