First-time buyers are now opting for a "mortgage before marriage", figures released by Bank of Ireland have indicated.

The number of first-time buyers taking out a mortgage on their own has increased by 14 per cent over the past 10 years.

In addition, the proportion of joint applicants who were married fell by 15 per cent between 1996 and 2001. Some 43 per cent of first-time buyers are now buying alone and Bank of Ireland attributes the increase to lower interest rates and taxation.

First-time buyers are still the most significant market for mortgage lending for the bank despite strong growth in the investor market over the past 12 months, according to Ms Olive Moran, marketing manager for Bank of Ireland Mortgages.

Ms Moran said investor demand was expected to stabilise in the coming months and first-time buyers could benefit.

The average first-time buyer loan at Bank of Ireland has jumped from €26,246 in 1991 to €118,000 in 2001. In the first nine months of 2002, this has increased by 14.5 per cent to €135,000. In Dublin, the average first-time buyer mortgage stands at €200,000.

Ms Moran said single people felt it didn't make sense to "put off" buying property until they found a purchasing partner. They saw it as imperative to get on the housing ladder sooner rather than later. "A single person can afford to pay a higher mortgage now than they could 10 years ago," she added.

In 2001, 95 per cent of mortgages loaned to joint applicants were to a man and a woman buying together. Of these, 39 per cent were married. Only five years earlier in 1996, more than half, 54 per cent, were married.

Men account for more first-time buyer mortgages than women at the bank, with a gender gap in home-ownership widening slightly over the past 10 years. In 2001, 60 per cent of sole borrowers at Bank of Ireland were men, up from 56 per cent in 1991.

The majority of mortgage customers, both sole and joint, borrow close to the most of what their incomes will allow them to repay but average property prices mean that most people cannot afford to buy without third-party help.

First-time buyers at Bank of Ireland borrow an average of 75 per cent of the market value of their property.

Given that the bank will lend up to 92 per cent of the property value, the figures suggest that first-time buyers are relying on other sources, such as parents, to bridge the gap.