More than a third of younger adults in parts of the West Midlands are still living with parents as campaigners claim a generation is locked out of the housing market.
The number of adults unable to fly the nest was revealed by housing charity Shelter as it called on the Government and opposition parties to back policies for building more affordable homes.
Data from the Office for National Statistics shows that 9,667 working people aged 20 to 34 in Solihull are living with parents, 38 per cent of the total.
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In Bromsgrove, 3,862 working people aged 20 to 34 are living with parents, or 37 per cent.
In South Staffordshire the figure is 5,291 people, or 42 per cent.
The number in Birmingham is 42,805, or 27 per cent. Although this is lower than elsewhere it still means that more than a quarter of working people aged 20 to 34 in the city are living with parents.
Shelter argues that the figures highlight the need to build more affordable homes.
A separate survey conducted by YouGov on behalf of Shelter found the single most common reason for living with parents was the cost of moving out, with 47 per cent saying they could not afford to rent.
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And 35 per cent said they were living with parents while they saved from a mortgage deposit.
Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “The ‘clipped wing generation’ are finding themselves with no choice but to remain living with mum and dad well into adulthood. And those who aren’t lucky enough to have this option instead face a lifetime of unstable, expensive private renting.
“The government knows that the only way to turn the tide of the housing shortage is to fill the gap between the homes we have and the homes we need. Bolder action is needed to meet the demand for affordable homes and not inflate prices further. Politicians of all parties must now put stable homes for the next generation at the top of the agenda.”
Meanwhile, Labour has made the cost of housing a key issue for its summer campaign in the run up to the party conference next month.
The number of households in the North East is increasing faster than the number of new homes - and the region will face a “demand gap” of 117,925 homes by 2020 if nothing changes, according to shadow housing minister Emma Reynolds, MP for Wolverhampton North East.
She said: “The only way to ensure more people can buy their own home, is to build many more homes. That is the litmus test of aspiration today.”
And she highlighted Labour’s proposals to make it protect people who rent houses from unfair charges and treatment, which include banning letting agencies from charging tenants fees.
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“We’ll act on unpredictable rent rises too by putting a ceiling on excessive rent rises during the period of these new longer-term tenancies,” she said.
Ministers highlighted the success of the Help to Buy scheme, which allows households to buy new-build homes with a loan of up to 20 per cent of the property’s price, or any home with a mortgage guarantee. In Birmingham, 308 homeowners have benefited so far.
Housing and planning minister Brandon Lewis said: “Housebuilding has increased to its highest level since 2007. Since the start of the scheme private housebuilding has shot up by a third and continues to climb. Developers are increasing their output and taking on new workers at the fastest rate since records began.”