Are we the nation of renters?

Rising rent prices mean graduates are staying at home after leaving university...

In the past, adults who lived with their parents into their twenties and beyond were often characterised as failures. But now, with well over a quarter of last year’s university graduates moving back home after graduating, this is no longer classed as unusual.

The introduction of tuition fees of up to £9,000 a year from September 2012 will increase the pressure on graduates even further, suggesting the number returning to the family home is likely to rise sharply.

According to recent figures, forty-one per cent of the three million adults living with their parents say they returned home after graduating to save money, while more than a third (34 per cent) did so because they were between jobs or further education.

While the majority (68%) of those moving back in with their parents are aged between 20-23 years old, it is not just the domain of younger people. As many as one in five (19%) are aged 24-27 years old, 7% 28-31 years old and 2% 32-35 years old. Furthermore, some 4% - equating to 196 thousand individuals - are aged 36 years or older when they move back.

Former University of Warwick graduate, Grace Coslett has admitted that she, along with the majority of her friends, have moved back in with their parents after graduating, despite being desperate move out and get their independence back.

“The current rental market is just so frustrating. I have come out of uni and am doing a job that I enjoy but is not very well paid while I decide whether or not to do a Masters.”

She continued: “It is lovely to be back at home with my family but at the same time it is annoying after having had the independence and freedom of living at uni. But realistically I can't afford to move out by myself so it is a case of saving and waiting. All my friends have to move home too – we just can’t afford it.”

Jess Pont, who studied music at Anglia Ruskin University, said that moving home after graduating last summer took some getting used to.

“After living away from home for the past few years, you become used to having your own independence and settling into your own lifestyle and routine. I definitely enjoyed living with friends and not having the pressures that sometimes living with parents brings.


I realise that it is strange for us now living at home again, because as we have become used to a different lifestyle, the same can be said for our parents, so it is an adaption on both our parts.”

Ina Mitskavets, Consumer and Lifestyles Analyst at Mintel, said:

"Poor job prospects and the rising cost of living means that living independently is increasingly out of reach for the UK’s young adults. Living back at home with mum and dad offers today’s Boomerangs an opportunity to live more comfortably than they might otherwise have done whilst also saving money and clearing some debts, with over half (56%) of the comeback kids saying they are financially better off as a result.”