But few wives anticipate their divorce will cost them their home comforts

Every morning, Heather Durrant gazes at her beautiful home of 25 years. The carefully nurtured garden. The wide sweep of the dining room, perfect for entertaining. Not to mention the four bedrooms, ideal for when grandchildren come to stay.

It's a sight that makes tears spring to her eyes — but they're ones of sadness, not joy.

Why? Because Heather, 70, had to move from her dream house in Henley-on-Thames and, in a cruel twist of fate, is forced to live in a tiny rented council property just a few doors away.

Devastated : Francisca Rigaud, pictured in her flat, says she can barely afford food, let alone another home

Forced to rent: Francisca lives in a small two-bedroom flat, pictured, and has lost hope of ever owning again

What she lost: The picture-perfect property near Bordeaux where Francisca lived with her husband

As she steps into her front garden, she can see the pleasant home where she raised her children and planned to see out the rest of her days. It's a loss made more acute because her current home, a bungalow, is tired and cramped.

So what caused her fall from grace? The answer is simple: late-life divorce. Aged 61, Heather split from her husband of more than 20 years when he left her to return to his first wife.

Their break-up in 2007 would lead to serious financial insecurity for Heather, culminating in the loss of her home — as well as her developing anxiety.

And Heather is by no means alone. The divorce rate among the over-50s is rising. According to the Office of National Statistics, the number of 'silver divorces' has risen by three- quarters in the past 20 years, while the divorce rate among the rest of the population has fallen.

As well as fractured relationships and infidelity, the rise in late-life divorce is also fuelled by women fed up with old-before-their-time husbands and a lack of excitement.

Few of these women anticipate that their silver divorce will cost them all the home comforts and financial security they once took for granted.

Dominik Lipnicki, a housing expert for Your Mortgage Decisions, believes this boom in divorce and the financial instability it can cause is a huge problem for older women.

'They're a very vulnerable group when it comes to getting a mortgage. Lenders are still keen to loan to clients who can pay over a longer period, not to a woman who might be in her 70s when the term finishes.

Unsettling: Liz Kelly moved into rented accommodation after selling the home she shared with her husband

Bad memories: Liz's husband moved out of the family home (pictured) just 12 months after they bought

'Women also often spend their lives supporting their other half's career while not working themselves. If their marriage ends, they find it difficult to re-enter the workplace.

'What's more, rents are much higher, so it's more difficult to save for a deposit.'

Heather was doomed to move into her tiny council house after the home she'd owned with her husband, who was in the RAF, was sold when they divorced.

The irony is she had managed to cling on to the house following her split from her first husband in 1987. 'I'd lived there for five years with my first husband and kept it when we divorced,' says Heather, who has seven children from both marriages aged 26 to 52.

'I'd hoped to stay there for ever.'

I felt embarrassed when I moved back. What would people think of me? They probably assumed I'd got loads of money from the house sale and had gone off to have a carefree life. Yet here I am paying £120 a week rent to the council Heather Durrant

But Heather, a stay-at-home mother, was unable to keep her home because of a lack of funds.

'I'd devoted my life to raising my children, so I hadn't the money to buy out my second husband when we divorced.

'The house was sold for £250,000 — £50,000 below its true value, because the lawyers were pushing for a quick sale.

'While I received £142,000, house prices here are astronomical — almost £600,000 on average today. I couldn't afford to buy anything outright or pay a mortgage as I hadn't worked for years. And my youngest child was still at school.

'My sister tried to persuade me to move to Lincolnshire, where she lives, because property is cheaper. But Henley has been my home all my life.'

For a year, Heather rented a three-bedroom house four miles from her old home. But she couldn't keep up the rent of £1,000-plus a month.

Her youngest son was living with her so space was sorely needed, but when he moved out two years ago, Heather applied for a council property. She's been in her tiny local authority-owned bungalow ever since.

The mortification of finding herself in such reduced circumstances so geographically close to her old life is not lost on her.

'I felt embarrassed when I moved back. What would people think of me?' she says.

'They probably assumed I'd got loads of money from the house sale and had gone off to have a carefree life. Yet here I am paying £120 a week rent to the council.

'I had to get rid of so many beloved items, including my lovely sofa and dining table, as they were too big.'

Left in the cold: Heather Durrant, 70, lives in a rented council property, pictured, near her former family home

Fall from grace: Heather, pictured outside her rented home, lives in a bungalow that is tired and cramped

Eventually, Heather cracked. 'Ordinarily I'm very cheerful, but I was low and even had to see my GP for help. I decided to embrace the garden as a distraction. I even won the annual Henley In Bloom competition.'

Though she still longs for her old lifestyle, Heather desperately tries to see the bright side.

'I tell myself that I'm one of the lucky ones because the council gave me two bedrooms. I was reminded of that recently when my little granddaughter came to stay the night.

'But I have to accept I will never be able to afford to buy a home of my own again. Worse, if I live for another decade or two, I don't know how I'll afford the rent.'

For Francisca Rigaud, 59, divorce has had a similarly devastating effect on her life.

She's been forced to rent a flat in Cardiff. Though recently renovated, it's small and basic, so it's a comedown from her blissful marital lifestyle.

She had to move from the picture-perfect property near Bordeaux that she and her now estranged husband bought for more than £700,000 in October 2011. With six en-suite bedrooms and an outdoor pool, it was their dream retirement home.

But their French idyll unravelled with their marriage. Now, in the throes of a bitter divorce, the house is empty and her ex, who retired two years ago from his job as a company director, says Francisca, is goodness knows where.

Sitting empty: The French country house Francisca shared with her now estranged husband

Rural French fairytale: Francisca and her husband's idyll unravelled with their marriage. Pictured, their home

Dispute: Francisca and her ex disagree over how they should split the French home they shared, pictured

His legal team have offered to give her a paltry sum to buy her out of their French home, even though they bought the house as joint and equal owners. Her lawyers are fighting for more.

'At my age, I should be enjoying life. Instead, I can barely able to afford food, let alone another home,' says Francisca. When she met her husband through a dating website, Francisca owned a loft apartment and worked as a photographer. Meanwhile her new man, now 62, was planning to retire.

Their first date was in February 2006. Three months on, they were renting a house together. They married in September 2009 and moved to Bordeaux two years later.

'I had a very good life before I met my husband and didn't aspire to meet a rich man,' says Francisca.

'I didn't sell my apartment until just before we got married and stupidly accepted a low offer for it, assuming I'd never need the money.'

But by late 2013 the glow of their rural French fairytale was beginning to dim. Her partner had been feeling low. When Francisca woke one morning, he had vanished, leaving a letter explaining he was ill.

'I think it was a culmination of him divorcing his first wife, meeting me and retiring within a short space of time. He couldn't cope,' says Francisca, who has three grown-up daughters from a previous marriage.

Even if I do get some kind of financial settlement from my husband, I doubt I'll be able to buy another property of my own because who would give me a mortgage? Francisca Riguard

At his behest, they reunited a month later in December 2013, when he suggested they should live in Cardiff, his home city, for a while. They stayed in an apartment belonging to his sister, but two months on he filed for divorce.

'I was heartbroken as he'd led me to believe we would have marriage counselling then resume our life together,' says Francisca. 'Under instruction from divorce lawyers, he rented a beautiful apartment for me in Cardiff for £900 per month. But in February 2015, he stopped paying the rent. I couldn't afford to stay.'

Desperate, Francisca house-sat for a local man for seven weeks and got a part-time job in a shop.

But with her paltry income swallowed up by legal fees and the divorce proceedings dragging on, she was forced to seek help from a charity, which arranged for her to have a room at no charge in a B&B.

She took her case to the Royal Courts of Justice in London earlier this month, where the judge ruled her husband must pay her rent until a divorce settlement is reached. Only then was she was able to move into her current flat. But she has lost all hope of ever owning a home again.

'Even if I do get some kind of financial settlement from my husband, I doubt I'll be able to buy another property of my own because who would give me a mortgage?'

Liz Kelly, 55, feels similarly trapped. 'At my age I expected to be living the dream in a large home with a farmhouse kitchen, an Aga and the mortgage long gone,' she says.

A freelance business analyst and project manager who lives in Hampshire, Liz has one son, now 27.

Trapped: Liz says she has no choice but to settle for her rented accommodation, pictured

Beautiful: Liz and her former husband shared this four-bedroom home in Staffordshire between 1989 and 1994

She was married to his father for 16 years until he left her for another woman in 2000. They divorced in 2003, but it was another decade before the financial aftershock of the split hit her — and the reverberations continue to affect her.

It's a cross to bear for Liz because her life was so comfortable while she was married.

'After a blissful wedding in 1987, followed by a stint in America with my husband's job in sales, in 1989 we bought a beautiful four-bedroom detached house in Staffordshire,' says Liz.

The couple continued to climb the property ladder, moving to a more spacious four-bedroom home in Essex when Liz got a job in senior management with a shipping company.

In 1999, they moved again for Liz's career, settling in Hampshire. She began searching for their next family home with a budget of £200,000 — no small sum back then — while her employers rented them a property in the interim.

'But my husband was completely uninterested in viewing properties, not least the five-bedroom detached house I'd set my heart on,' says Liz.

There's no garage, attic or utility room and no space in the kitchen for a tumble dryer,' she says. 'I was miserable for a long time. Who wants to be renting at my age, worrying about paying the bills or how long I'll be able to stay? Liz

'When my employers began to lose patience, saying they couldn't pay our rent indefinitely, I panic bought a three-bed semi for significantly less than our budget had been.'

The reason for her husband's lack of interest in buying a home soon became apparent.

'A year later he left me. I realised he must have been planning his exit from the marriage, hence his lack of interest in house-hunting.'

Liz agreed to buy her husband out of the house as soon as she was able, which was in 2005.

Meanwhile, he paid maintenance, which all but covered the mortgage and their son's private school fees.

But he suddenly stopped paying when their son turned 16 in 2006 — three years earlier than had been agreed in the divorce — and Liz struggled to make ends meet.

Things got even more difficult financially when their son went to university and she had to help support him.

By 2012 she felt so burdened by the house and its bad memories that she decided to sell.

Her lender and others refused to move her mortgage, even though she didn't want to borrow any additional money.

'It meant I was trapped in that house,' she says. 'But I decided to sell regardless — it was making me ill being there.'

Liz received just £50,000 equity from the £275,000 sale and has been unable to buy another home since.

Instead, she has rented a succession of places from what she calls 'unscrupulous landlords' and currently lives in a tiny cottage for which she pays £1,095 a month.

Her old lifestyle, where she picked and chose where she wanted to live, is long gone. She has moved three times in the past three years, twice because the rental properties were sold from under her feet.

The third move was because the house was impossible to heat as the landlord refused to replace the substandard boiler, making Liz's heating bills astronomical.

Four months ago, she moved into her current home. 'There's no garage, attic or utility room and no space in the kitchen for a tumble dryer,' she says.

'I was miserable for a long time. Who wants to be renting at my age, worrying about paying the bills or how long I'll be able to stay? It's very unsettling, though I have come to terms with it.

'I'm looking into drawing my pension early to buy in France, southern Italy or Spain, where I could afford a decent home.

'There's certainly no way I can afford to buy in Hampshire unless I'm prepared to live in a grotty area — which, at my age, I'm not.

'I never envisaged that my divorce would still be causing such pain 13 years down the line.'