- Over half (55.1%) of British parents charge their adult children an average of £25.55 per week to live at home
- Parents in Brighton charge their children double the average rent cost when comparing all UK cities, at £52.33 per week
- Paying parents rent, as opposed to renting privately, could save Londoners an average of £23,648.16 per year
- Food bills are the most common reason for parents charging rent (46.8%), followed by energy (41.5%) and gas (28.6%) bills
Rising property prices and increased mortgage costs mean it’s harder than ever for people to get on the property ladder, and many young adults are choosing to live with their parents for longer, to cut costs and save money.
In light of this, the home insurance team at Compare the Market has carried out some research to reveal how many parents charge their children rent, how much they charge, and how exactly they work this out.
Over half (55.1%) of British parents charge their adult children an average of £25.55 per week to live at home
Over half (55.1%) of parents surveyed charge their adult children some form of rent money for living at home, with an average charge of £25.55 per week (£110.71 per month).
This amount is over seven times cheaper than the average rental cost for a 1-bedroom flat outside of a city centre (£179 per week), and over nine times cheaper than that for a flat located in a city centre (£235.08 per week).
That means that by choosing to live at home with their parents, young adults could save an average of nearly £10,900 per year when compared the renting privately.
Parents in Brighton charge their children double the average at £52.33 per week
Parents in Brighton charge their children the most money to live at home, asking for £52.33 per week on average – which is more than double the national average. However, this is still far cheaper than the city’s average rent costs (£294.64 per week in the city centre).
Meanwhile, parents in Belfast charge their children the least at an average of £14.03 per week, which is over £11 cheaper than the overall UK average.
Paying parents rent, as opposed to renting privately, could save people an average of £23,648.16 per year on rent costs in London
Young adults in London can make the biggest savings by living with parents. The average cost for a 1-bed in the city centre is £2,080.71 per month, while parents in London charge just £110.03 per month on average. This means living with parents could save Londoners an average of £1,970.68 per month, totalling a huge £23,648.16 per year.
Parents in Bristol offer the next biggest savings, with the potential for their children to save an average of £1,021.26 per month by living at home.
The table below shows the top 10 cities where people save the most money by living with parents.
| Rank | City | Avg. amount charged by parents per month | Avg. cost of a 1-bed in city centre per month | Difference (£) | Difference (%) |
| 1 | London | £110.03 | £2,080.71 | £1,970.68 | 1,791% |
| 2 | Bristol | £115.41 | £1,136.67 | £1,021.26 | 885% |
| 3 | Edinburgh | £71.83 | £1,033.40 | £961.57 | 1,339% |
| 4 | Brighton | £226.75 | £1,178.57 | £951.82 | 420% |
| 5 | Manchester | £101.25 | £933.67 | £832.42 | 822% |
| 6 | Belfast | £60.79 | £855.00 | £794.21 | 1,306% |
| 7 | Norwich | £111.23 | £857.14 | £745.91 | 671% |
| 8 | Newcastle | £88.57 | £815.55 | £726.98 | 821% |
| 9 | Southampton | £99.22 | £820.42 | £721.20 | 727% |
| 10 | Birmingham | £104.94 | £824.32 | £719.38 | 686% |
Nearly half (46.8%) of parents cite food bills as their main motivation for charging rent
57.1% of parents say their main motivation for charging rent is to get help with household bills. Of these bills, food bills are the most important factor for most with nearly half (46.8%) of parents saying they take these into account when deciding how much to charge.
Energy bills (41.5%) and gas bills (28.6%) are the next most common considerations, which may be influenced by the rising cost of energy over the past year.
Meanwhile, just 4.5% consider home insurance costs, making this the least important factor for parents.
Anna McEntee from the home insurance team at Compare the Market comments on the research:
“While home insurance costs might not be top of the list for parents when deciding what bills to charge their children, it’s important that parents do consider how having their adult children live at home may affect their home insurance policy.
Making sure to have the correct level of cover for everyone in a household is vital, and while adult children are often covered by their parents’ policy, this isn’t always the case.
Some home insurance providers only extend cover to those who are named in the policy, which is why it’s essential to share the names of all household members with your provider. While it may seem like a minor detail, omitting the names of adult children from your policy can lead to significant gaps in coverage and potential financial risks.”
