Rising rents are trapping a generation of young adults in house shares they no longer want, as the dream of buying a first home slips further out of reach.
With the average UK rent now standing at £1,354 a month, according to the latest ONS data, many under-40s are delaying plans to move on from shared accommodation – not out of choice, but necessity.
New research from lifetime ISA provider OneFamily highlights the scale of the problem.
Of the 3,000 UK adults aged 18 to 40 surveyed, four in five have lived with housemates at some point, and a third admit they didn’t enjoy the experience. Among the most common frustrations were lack of privacy (37%), noise (32%) and messy housemates (29%).
FROZEN MICE
Respondents described everything from sinks piled high with mouldy dishes to “wannabe DJs” practising all night, and even freezers shared with Tupperware boxes of frozen mice. While living with others helps keep costs down – 36% said it’s simply cheaper than renting alone – for many, the arrangement is stretching years beyond what they once expected.
For young renters, the proportion of income swallowed by rent leaves little room for saving toward a deposit, especially as wage growth lags behind living costs. The survey underlines how the affordability gap between renting and buying has widened sharply over the past decade, pushing homeownership further out of reach for those without family support.
LIMITED CHOICE
Lucy Laing, a 42-year-old creative freelancer based in Brighton, said her experience of renting in London highlights how limited choice has become.
“You have a limited choice of where you’re going to live, due to high rent costs. You’re forced to move into places that are meant to feel like home, but don’t, and you can end up with housemates who have no respect for privacy or personal space.
“I was spending around £700 a month on rent split across a few people. Friends would say, ‘Why don’t you just buy somewhere?’ But how can you save for a deposit when rent costs were so high?”
NATIONAL TREND
The cost of renting privately has climbed almost 9% over the past year, while deposits for first-time buyers have risen faster than average earnings. For many, the only option is to share for longer, even as lifestyles, relationships, and careers evolve.
Jim Islam, Chief Executive of OneFamily, says the findings reflect a growing crisis of independence for young adults.
He adds: “We’re seeing a generation stuck in shared homes they’ve long outgrown, not out of choice, but because high rents make it nearly impossible to move on.
“Everyone deserves independence and peace of mind, but for many young people these things now feel like luxuries.
“Owning your own place used to be a milestone of adulthood. Today, it’s increasingly out of reach for those trying to balance everyday rent with saving for a deposit.”
PERMANENT FIXTURE
With the average first-time buyer deposit in the UK now exceeding £60,000 – and more than double that in London – renters face a long and uncertain climb toward homeownership.
Unless rental costs stabilise or new forms of support emerge, analysts warn that house sharing, once seen as a temporary stage of early adulthood, risks becoming a permanent fixture for Britain’s younger workforce.
