A representative survey by ImmoScout24 has found that many couples in Germany don’t have any near-future plans to move in together and cite a need for space as their main motivation.

Couples in Germany are living more independently

Since 1991, the number of single-person households in Germany has risen by 46 percent. While the overwhelming majority of couples in Germany (86 percent) do live in the same house, 70 percent of those who live apart don’t have any plans to move in together within the next year.

Those are the results of a recent representative survey conducted by Goldberger Marktanalytik on behalf of the property listings website ImmoScout24. For 51 percent of those who didn’t want to move in together in the near future, keeping some space from each other was cited as the main motivator. 

25 percent felt like they hadn’t been together for long enough - the majority thought that a relationship should be at least two years long before moving in is a good idea - and 22 percent said that they didn’t plan to move in together soon because they were in a long-distance relationship.

However, with Germany amid the worst housing crisis in 20 years and rents continually rising, it is also harder for couples who do want to live together to find an affordable option, or one that might make them less reluctant to leave their current house - a factor that the ImmoScout24 survey did not address.

What are the benefits for LAT couples?

While the ImmoScout24 survey only asked couples if they were planning to move in together in the next year, there is also an increasing trend for couples to take the longer-term LAT path - “Living Apart Together”, to be in a relationship but have no concrete plans to live together.

A 2019 study in The Sociological Review found that Germany was the European country where the largest percentage of LAT couples (31,5 percent) had no plans to move in together in the next three years. 

An often overlooked demographic, couples who choose to live apart cite having more personal space as one of their main motivations, with the set-up also engendering a greater appreciation for their partner, a reduction in conflict and continued emotional support.

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