High rents, rising house prices and the difficulty of saving a deposit are making it harder for many young adults in Ireland to leave the family home and establish independent households.
Ireland’s housing crisis is making the transition to independent living increasingly difficult for young adults, with more than six in 10 people aged 18 to 34 still living with their parents in 2025.
Eurostat data shows that 61.7% of people aged 18 to 34 in Ireland were living with their parents last year.
The proportion has fallen from 64% in 2022, but the latest figure remains high and highlights the scale of the challenge facing young adults trying to establish their own households.
Living with parents does not automatically mean that someone cannot afford to move out. Some young adults deliberately remain at home to save money, while others may stay with family while studying, working or preparing to buy a property.
But Ireland’s housing costs can make remaining at home a financially attractive option — and, for some, the only realistic one.
Leaving home can come with a difficult financial choice
For many young adults, the decision is becoming increasingly difficult: remain at home to save money, or move out and face housing costs that can make saving for a future home even harder.
Renting provides independence, but high housing costs can consume a substantial part of a young worker’s income.
Remaining with parents can reduce those costs and potentially allow someone to build savings more quickly.
The problem is that the longer a person needs to save, the longer they may remain dependent on the family home.
This creates a cycle in which high rents can make it harder to save a deposit, while rising property prices can make the deposit needed to buy a home even larger.
House prices continue to rise
The cost of entering the property market remains a major barrier.
The Central Statistics Office said the median price paid for a residential property in Ireland was €387,000 in the 12 months to December 2025.
Residential property prices increased by 7% in the year to December 2025.
The median price in Dublin was even higher, at €500,000, while Dún Laoghaire-Rathdown had a median price of €679,999.
These figures do not mean that every first-time buyer needs to purchase a property at the national median price. Prices vary significantly between regions and individual properties.
But they illustrate the scale of the financial commitment facing people attempting to enter the market.
For someone at the beginning of their career, accumulating a deposit while also paying rent and covering everyday expenses can be a lengthy process.
Renting does not necessarily solve the problem
For young adults who cannot buy, renting should provide a route towards independent living.
Yet high rental costs can create another financial barrier.
A person who leaves the family home may gain independence but have considerably less money available each month for savings.
That can delay the point at which they can afford a deposit.
The result is a difficult choice between independence today and the ability to save for homeownership tomorrow.
For people without financial assistance from their families, the challenge can be even greater.
Family support can make a difference
The ability to rely on parents for financial support can also influence how quickly a young adult can enter the housing market.
Recent research from Permanent TSB found that younger adults are increasingly considering alternatives to traditional homeownership, including social housing and long-term renting.
The bank’s Reflecting Ireland Housing and Homeownership 2026 research found that 61% of under-35s are considering social housing to secure a home.
The research also found that more than half of people under 35 believe they may never be in a position to buy a home.
M10News has already reported on that finding separately in its article, “More Than Half of Under-35s Fear They May Never Own a Home in Ireland.”
The issue examined here is different.
Before a young adult can worry about buying a home, they first need somewhere affordable to live independently.
For many, that first step is becoming increasingly difficult.
Ireland’s housing costs are among the highest in Europe
The pressure is not limited to property prices.
Eurostat’s latest housing comparison found that Ireland had the highest housing costs in the EU relative to the EU average in 2024, with costs 87% above the EU average.
Eurostat’s measure includes housing-related expenditure such as water, electricity, gas and other fuels.
High overall housing costs can make the transition away from the family home more expensive, particularly for young adults who have not yet built significant savings.
This helps explain why remaining with parents can make financial sense even for people who are working.
The wider housing shortage matters too
The problem cannot be reduced to one factor.
The affordability pressure facing young adults reflects the interaction between the supply of homes, construction costs, rents, property prices, incomes and the cost of borrowing.
When the number of homes available to rent or buy does not keep pace with demand, competition for accommodation can push costs higher.
At the same time, building new homes involves significant land, labour, materials, financing and regulatory costs.
For young adults, the outcome is the same regardless of which individual factor is responsible for a particular increase: the cost of securing a home can rise faster than their ability to save for one.
Delayed independence has consequences
The impact of the housing crisis extends beyond whether someone owns a property.
Remaining in the family home for longer can delay the point at which young adults establish independent households and make long-term plans.
Housing costs can also influence where people choose to work.
A young person may have employment opportunities in Dublin or another major urban area but find that moving there would involve housing costs that make the job financially unattractive.
The housing market can therefore affect decisions about employment, relationships, household formation and where people choose to live.
Not everyone living at home is struggling
The 61.7% figure should not be interpreted as meaning that all young adults living with parents are being forced to do so.
Some may prefer multigenerational living.
Others may be saving deliberately for a deposit or staying at home while completing education.
It is also important to distinguish between different statistical measures of young adults living with parents.
National and European datasets can use different definitions and methodologies, so figures from different sources should not automatically be treated as directly comparable.
The Eurostat figure nevertheless provides an important snapshot of how common living with parents remains among young adults in Ireland.
A generation caught between renting and buying
For many young adults, the housing pathway has become a choice between difficult options.
Renting offers independence but can make saving harder.
Buying offers long-term security but requires a substantial financial commitment.
Remaining with parents can make saving easier but delays independent living.
This leaves some young adults caught between an expensive rental market and a property market that remains difficult to enter.
The issue is therefore not simply whether young people want to own homes.
It is whether they can afford the steps required to get there.
Ireland’s housing challenge is about more than building homes
Increasing housing supply remains central to addressing Ireland’s housing problems.
But the experience of young adults shows that the debate also needs to consider affordability.
A home being built does not necessarily mean it is affordable to someone starting their career.
A rental property being available does not necessarily mean a young worker can comfortably afford it.
And having a full-time job does not automatically mean someone can save a deposit quickly enough to enter the property market.
For Ireland’s younger generation, the housing question is increasingly about when they can afford to leave home, whether they can afford to rent and whether they will eventually have a realistic path towards homeownership.
The fact that 61.7% of 18–34-year-olds were still living with their parents in 2025 shows how significant that challenge remains.
For young adults, the housing crisis is therefore not simply about owning a home.
It is increasingly about whether they can afford to leave the home they grew up in, establish an independent household and still have a realistic chance of owning a home of their own.
