Neath Port Talbot has recorded the highest number of homelessness applications linked to relationship breakdowns of any council in Wales, according to new research.
The borough recorded 2,712 applications between 2020 and 2025 – more than any other Welsh local authority and significantly ahead of much larger councils including Cardiff and Newport.
The figures, obtained through Freedom of Information requests by family law firm Rayden Solicitors, also show high levels in Carmarthenshire and Pembrokeshire – placing south-west Wales squarely at the top of the Welsh league table.
Carmarthenshire County Council recorded 1,480 applications over the five-year period, ranking fourth in Wales.
Pembrokeshire County Council recorded 1,433, putting it fifth – and also placing it among the five Welsh councils with the largest percentage increase over the period, up 35.4%.
Swansea Council did not provide data for the analysis. The council told the researchers that, for Swansea, the reason for homelessness is only recorded when the homelessness duty ends – meaning the cause is not captured at the point of application.
Without a directly comparable figure for Swansea, the city’s contribution to the wider Welsh picture is not visible in the analysis.
Across Wales as a whole, 15,780 homelessness applications were recorded as having relationship breakdown as a primary cause between 2020 and 2025 – making Wales the second-highest UK region after the North West.
The Vale of Glamorgan recorded the largest percentage increase in such applications among Welsh councils, with a rise of 142.9% over the five-year period.
Blaenau Gwent (+114.3%) and Caerphilly (+81.5%) also more than doubled their numbers, while Anglesey (+35.5%) and Pembrokeshire (+35.4%) recorded notable increases.
The research was commissioned by Rayden Solicitors to highlight what it describes as a legal gap affecting cohabiting couples – those who live together without marrying.
Cohabiting couples are now one of the fastest-growing family structures in the UK, accounting for 17.7% of all families. The number of cohabiting couples in the UK has risen by 144% between 1996 and 2021.
But unlike married couples or those in civil partnerships, cohabitees have limited legal rights over property, finances and housing if their relationship breaks down.
Lehna Gardiner, partner at Rayden Solicitors, said the current law leaves the financially weaker partner exposed.
“Under the current law, cohabitees have limited rights compared to those who are married,” she said. “When married couples divorce, they have significant legal protection within the family law framework. The parties’ and children’s needs are prioritised and the principles of equality and fairness are applied.”
She said the consequences for unmarried couples could be severe. “For cohabiting couples, these principles unfortunately do not apply. This specifically leaves the financially weaker party in a vulnerable position in the event of a break-up. Often, these are women who have focused less on their careers in order to look after children.”
Gardiner added that cohabiting couples cannot rely on the family law framework. “Cohabiting couples cannot rely on the family law framework and have no financial responsibility to one another on separation,” she said.
The firm has suggested practical steps cohabiting couples can take to protect themselves – including ensuring property is legally owned in a way that reflects their intentions, entering into a formal cohabitation agreement, and keeping wills up to date.
Cohabitation reform is expected to be on the political agenda this spring, with discussions taking place over whether to extend formal legal protections to long-term cohabiting partners.
The research has caveats. Of 197 UK councils contacted, only 122 responded, and only 91 of those provided the relationship breakdown data analysed in the study.
The figures themselves measure homelessness applications, not all of which result in someone being recorded as homeless under statutory duties.
But for Neath Port Talbot, the high volume of applications recorded over a sustained five-year period suggests housing pressures linked to relationship breakdown are particularly acute in the borough.
The full Rayden Solicitors report is available on the firm’s website at raydensolicitors.co.uk.
