More than 3.3 million young people are now living with their parents as people have struggled to afford to move out, new figures have revealed.
According to the Office for National Statistics, the number of 20 to 34-year olds living with their parents has shot up by 669,000 (25%) from 1996 to 2013, with the increase even quicker after the 2008 financial crisis.
National Housing Federation chief executive David Orr said: “Moving out and setting up a home of your own is a normal rite of passage. Yet these figures show that England is becoming a country where young adults are struggling to spread their wings and be independent.
“Two-thirds (66%) of parents with at least one adult child living at home say they are doing so because they simply can’t afford to move out. And the situation will only get worse: our research shows that by 2020 rents will rise 39% and house prices will shoot up by 35%.
“Unless we build more of the right homes at the right prices in the right areas, adult children will be stuck in their childhood bedrooms and parents will be unable to move on with their lives."