Young adults aged 21 to 35 have been finding the ‘Hotel of Mum and Dad’ increasingly appealing over recent years, but who lives where across the country, and why? A survey by Experian reveals the truth about the living habits of millennials…
Across the UK, more than a quarter of 21- to 35-year-olds are living at home with relatives, and a shocking 16% of these have never left, while 10% did move out – potentially to go to university – before having to move back in with their parents or family members.
The Experian survey showed that the proportion of this age group who were homeowners almost matched the number who rented, with 37% living in their own property compared to 36% who classed themselves as tenants. This is a huge shift from previous generations, when homeownership was a much more attainable goal for young people and renters were more a minority.
Regional differences
The variations between the different regions are interesting. The highest proportion of millennial homeowners is in the east of England, where almost half of millennials (46%) have managed to get onto the property ladder, while 29% rent, 24% live with relatives and 1% live in accommodation they don’t pay rent for. Perhaps not surprisingly, the figures are turned on their head in London, where the lowest number of millennials surveyed (31%) own their home, while 37% are in the Generation Rent category, 30% live at home and 2% of lucky young people live for free.
Here’s a breakdown of the figures:
| Living in own property | Renting | Living with relatives | Free accommodation | |
| East of England | 46% | 29% | 24% | 1% |
| East Midlands | 35% | 38% | 25% | 2% |
| London | 29% | 39% | 31% | 1% |
| North-east | 40% | 30% | 29% | 1% |
| North-west | 37% | 34% | 27% | 2% |
| Scotland | 40% | 39% | 21% | 1% |
| South-east | 39% | 33% | 26% | 2% |
| South-west | 41% | 41% | 18% | 1% |
| Wales | 31% | 42% | 24% | 2% |
| West Midlands | 37% | 31% | 29% | 3% |
| Yorkshire & Humber | 31% | 37% | 30% | 2% |
| UK average | 37% | 36% | 26% | 2% |
The reasons behind the stats…
The overriding reason that those aged 21 to 35 gave for still living at home, or with family, is that they can’t afford to buy their own property, or even move out into rented accommodation, with 41% citing this reason. A further 22% said that living at home was enabling them to save up for a deposit for their own place, as wages in recent years have risen at a much slower rate than house prices.
However, 15% said they lived at home purely through choice rather than for the financial reasons, while 7% did so because they were actually financially supporting their parents or family members.
What about the parents?
Recent research from comparethemarket.com found that 74% of those parents who were letting their grown-up kids live at home struggled with their unexpected landlord duties, and didn’t know what they should be charging their children to live there. Average rents charged by parents across the UK came in at £68 a month towards the mortgage, £31 on bills and £33 for food, which is drastically less than going market rates.
Parents who were charging their offspring to live at home said they did so because they were in employment, and as adults should be contributing to the household outgoings. Still, 19% of parents admitted to having been too embarrassed to ask their children to pay board, and 12% of children who had been asked to contribute had refused.
