With house prices and deposits becoming harder and harder to reach for young adults, many are opting to stay living at home with their parents into and beyond their late twenties, according to new research.

A study by online blinds retailer Direct Blinds has revealed that a third (33%) of people can’t afford to move out and pay rent.

While over a quarter (28%) of us think that they should move out and be more independent and 15% said adults living at home were lazy, one in ten (10%) actually admit that we’re jealous and wish we too had stayed at home to save money.

Those aged 25-44 years old are most critical of adults still living at home, with 44% of this age group admitting to thinking adults still living at home are ‘lazy’.

When asked why they still live at home, the top five reasons adults over the age of 21 gave were:

1. I want to be with my family (44%)
2. I’m saving for a house/deposit (43%)
3. My parents want me to stay (40%)
4. To have more disposable income (38%)
5. I can’t afford to rent (33%)

One in ten (10%) also admitted to living at home because mum does the washing and her cooking is too good to leave.

Although we’re divided on the ideal age to leave the nest, the majority (31%) of us think that the latest age still acceptable to be living at home is between 23 and 25 years old.

When it comes to paying rent, one in five (20%) don’t have a fixed rental agreement, simply helping out when possible and a staggering 15% of adults living at home don’t pay any rent at all.

With rent prices high across the board in the capital, it is no surprise that adult children pay their parents the most rent in London, with one in five (20%) paying over £250 a month.

Yet, adults living at home in London paying this rent to their parents could still be saving up to £2,000 a month compared to the cost of renting independently.  The average rental price of a one bedroom flat in central London is £2,387.80 per calendar month. Therefore, adults living at home, even in London, are saving a substantial amount of money.

And it’s not just rent costs which are swallowed by the bank of mum and dad. Over a quarter (26%) of parents admit to paying for their adult child’s food, and 24% admit to funding magazine subscriptions, Netflix and holidays for their children over the age of 21.

Amy Taylor, 28, from Leeds made the move back up north to save money. She said:

“I moved back up to Leeds after living in London for five years towards the end of 2015. The driving factor behind the move was wanting to buy a house. The prospect of buying a property in London was near impossible, so I decided to make the move back to Leeds to live with my parents – rent-free – to save money for a deposit on a house. Four months in, I’m managing to save well and am hoping to be in a position to buy towards the end of 2016.

“If I had stayed in London I wouldn’t have been able to buy for at least another 10 years, and even then it would have been a struggle.”

David Roebuck, Managing Director at Direct Blinds said: “With more and more adults now living at home with their parents, we wanted to look into the reasons behind this decision. The discovery that over a third of people can’t afford to move out and rent independently is shocking. This highlights the difficulty of getting on the property ladder for young people.

“Living at home for longer allows people to save money for house deposits, which many think is cost efficient in the long run. Overall, it seems there are lots of lucky adults out there with parents helping them out financially!”

For further case studies on adults living at home visit the Direct Blinds blog here: http://www.directblinds.co.uk/blog/living-at-home/