How Many Young Adults Are Still Living At Home?

Published: 15/10/2018

Your 20s and 30s are supposed to be a time when finally, after years of living under the family roof, you can achieve independence. Leave the nest. Live in dirty shared houses, move in with your partner, maybe even start thinking about buying a home.

Increasingly though, this scenario is not so possible for young people. Recent stats prove it.

Can you guess how many young adults aged between 20 and 34 in the UK are living with their parents?

3.4million.

That’s right - literally millions of 20 and 30 somethings who cannot afford high rents and skyrocketing mortgage deposits are still sharing a house with mum and dad.

The Stats

According to analysis based on official figures by newspaper Daily Express, the number of young adults living at home has increased by an extra 5,500 every month over the last 15 years.

It found 26 per cent of young adults are now living with their parents - a total of 3.4 million. In 2002 there were a million fewer.

The Office for National Statistics figures show the numbers living at home have increased three per cent in the last year, eight percent over the last five years, 28 percent over the last 10 years and 41 percent since 15 years ago.

London and the South-east have the most young people living with parents (more than a million), but Northern Ireland has the biggest proportion, with more than one in three still at home.

Reasons for the growing trend are thought to be: Stagnant wages, precarious employment, unpaid internships and high student debt, doubled with the increasing price of properties and therefore housing deposits, especially in the UK’s bigger cities.

Tips for home buyers - How can young people get onto the housing ladder?

First and foremost, this national housing problem must be addressed by the government.

In the meantime though, there are a number of steps young adults can take to make their dreams of home ownership a reality, sooner rather than later.

Some of these include:

• Saving money for a deposit with our money saving tips (How To Save For A House Deposit)
• Borrowing from the ‘Bank of Mum & Dad’. Read our article on how Equity Release is helping first-time buyers onto the housing ladder (How Equity Release Can Help First Time Buyers)
• Choosing a location outside of London (Top 10 Pleases to Live Outside of London)
• Carefully considering the type of property you would like to purchase, in order to maximise on the money you have saved, before locking anything in. Freeholds for example are often a better choice than leaseholds (Whats The Difference Between Freehold And Leasehold)
• Considering buy-to-let, which can enable you to save for a property in a more desirable location in the future. Lenders are now offering BTL mortgages to FTBs, making it much more simple for young adults to get on the housing ladder as landlords (Is Investing In Buy To Let Worth It?)
• Sorting out your credit rating, so you are able to lock in a more favourable mortgage rate, when the time comes (Can I Get A Mortgage With Bad Credit?)
• Checking if you are eligible for any of the Government’s affordable housing initiatives, such as Help to Buy, a shared ownership scheme where you can buy as little as 25% of the home and pay rent on the rest (Help To Buy)

(Not so-) fun facts

• North East

  138K, 26.3%

• North West

  392K, 27.3%

• Yorkshire/Humber

  232K, 22.4%

• West Midlands

  337K, 30.1%

• East

  301K, 27.4%

• London

  572,000, 24.7%

• South East

  449K, 27.9%

• South West

  230K, 22.5%

• Wales

  151K, 22.8%

• Scotland

  256K, 25.4%

• Northern Ireland

  120K, 34.2%

• United Kingdom

  3.394m, 25.9%

Why are we the best solicitors for you?

GWlegal are a property solicitors based in Liverpool, specialising in buying or selling, remortgage, declaration of trust, bridging and buy-to-let landlords.

If you have a legal matter you wish to discuss don’t hesitate to get in touch. You can call us on 0345 373 3737 email us hello@gw.legal with your question.

Who are GWlegal? We’re a national firm with local values.

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Content correct at time of publication.