Almost a third of households in England are occupied by just one person, with the number of people living on their own increasing by as much as 14% in the past 10 years.<\/p>\n
The\u00a0number of people who are chronically lonely is estimated to sit at 3.83 million, and 7.1% of the population say that they are always or often lonely.<\/p>\n
The analysis of ONS data comes from COHO, the HMO management platform.<\/p>\n
Vann Vogstad, founder and chief executive of COHO, said: \u201cThe rise in people living alone is not just a housing issue, it\u2019s a social one.<\/p>\n
\u201cWith more and more people working remotely and social media or other online spaces playing a huge role in the way we connect with others, those who live alone can sorely miss the interactions and companionship that is proven to enrich our lives and our health.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are passionate in our belief that Shared Living is a powerful force for good. It creates daily opportunities for immediate connection and community. And when you have good compatibility with housemates, it can also pave the way for long-term friendships that sustain us through life.\u201d<\/p>\n
It\u2019s not just older people who suffer from loneliness.<\/p>\n
According to the Centre for Social Justice, young adults aged 16-29 are now more than twice as likely to feel lonely as those aged over 70.<\/p>\n
More than 6.9 million single-person households are now estimated to exist in England, marking an increase of 8.8% since 2015.<\/p>\n
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Single-person households now account for 28.9% of all English households, marking an increase of 0.7% since 2015.<\/p>\n
People living alone account for more than 30% of homes in the North West (33%), North East (32.5%), South West (30.7%), and Yorkshire & Humber (30.2%), while the biggest decade increases have been recorded in the North West (+1.9%), South West (+1.7%), and South East (+1.5%).<\/p>\n
Loneliness is shown to have detrimental effects on our physical health, increasing early mortality risk by about 26%, with additional physical effects including elevated blood pressure, stress, poor sleep, and weaker immune responses.<\/p>\n
Perhaps more pressing is the negative impact it has on our mental health, with chronic loneliness strongly linked to depression, anxiety, suicidal ideation, dementia onset, and even psychosis.<\/p>\n
These personal impacts also have a profound economic impact on the nation as a whole. Some estimates suggest that the cost of loneliness, when accounting for things like health and social care, education, and employment, rises beyond \u00a332 billion per year.<\/p>\n
Vogstad added: \u201cMore people of all ages are recognising the value of living with housemates, but we\u2019re also seeing an increase in those who live alone.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere at COHO, our responsibility is to help people understand just how brilliant Shared Living is, a big part of which is dispelling and overcoming many of the stigmas and preconceptions that currently exist in the public understanding of what it means to have housemates.<\/p>\n
\u201cShared Living has the power to transform lives, not just living arrangements.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Almost a third of households in England are occupied by just one person, with the number of people living on their own increasing by as much as 14% in the past 10 years. The\u00a0number of people who are chronically lonely is estimated to sit at 3.83 million, and 7.1% of the population say that they […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":3283,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3282","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-second-home"],"yoast_head":"\n