Shopping 'sacrificed for mortgage'

A third of Britons will sacrifice socialising and grocery shopping to pay for their mortgage, a new survey has revealed.

With the price of a night out and a weekly shop inching up and the housing market flatlining, 32% of homeowners said they will have to change their way of life to make ends meet, according to the Legal & General Mortgage Mood survey.

First-time buyers will be particularly stringent, the figures show, with almost half of them (44%) determined to save enough for a deposit by June 2013.

Of those cutting back, 82% said they will forfeit spending on socialising and hobbies, 78% said clothing and 68% said food shopping.

However, the buck stops at holidays and childcare, with only 11% and 10% willing to reduce spending on each respectively.

Ben Thompson, managing director of Legal & General Mortgage Club, said the figures are "not entirely surprising" given the ailing economy.

He said: "Ensuring that homeowners budget appropriately to meet the needs of mortgage repayments is very sensible, although the fact that so many intend to cut back on groceries and clothing shows that austerity is still biting up and down the country."

According to the study, involving 1,000 people, belts are being squeezed tightest in Wales and the North West, where 46% and 43% of those surveyed said they will have to cut back.

The more relaxed homeowners reside in the West Midlands, where 20% said they felt the need to change their way of life.