Therefore, some young people choose smaller housing, living with roommates, or postpone independent living to a later time.
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This situation is also experienced today by 24-year-old Donatas from Kaunas. The guy working in an IT company earns about 1200 euros net, but still lives with his parents.
“Sometimes it seems that it’s already time to live independently, but when I look at rental prices, you can’t change the math. For a one-room apartment in Kaunas, you would have to pay about 400 euros, plus utilities, food, transport. At the end of the month, very little would be left for savings,” he says.
Donatas considered renting a place alone, but for now decided to stay at his parents’ home and save money.
“If I moved out now and rented a one-room apartment, I practically wouldn’t save for the initial down payment. Therefore, for now, I have to choose between independence and saving,” says the Kaunas resident.
Real estate market expert Gintarė Kriuogaitė says that such a choice is increasingly determined not by the desire to live with family, but by simple mathematics.
Rent can consume half of the income
Housing can become a significant part of the income for a young person living alone. In addition to rent, there are utility bills and other daily expenses, so housing can take up 40% or even half of the salary.
“From experience, I see that young people are more likely to sacrifice housing space or privacy than a convenient location. Therefore, a smaller apartment or living with roommates is often chosen, but in a convenient city location from which it is easy to reach work or university,” says Gintarė Kriuogaitė, an expert at FIKS real estate agency.
According to G. Kriuogaitė, it is generally easier for a person earning 1200–1500 euros net to rent housing and maintain a comfortable living standard in Kaunas or Klaipėda, while in Vilnius at least 1500 euros is usually needed.
The larger the share of income allocated to housing, the less remains for saving, which complicates the ability to accumulate the initial down payment.
Not the loan installment, but the initial down payment
Housing prices have risen rapidly in recent years, which makes it difficult for a young person not only to buy housing but also to prepare for it. For first-time homebuyers, the minimum initial down payment can be 10% of the property value.
This means that for a property worth 150,000 euros, at least 15,000 euros should be saved, and for a property worth 200,000 euros – 20,000 euros.
According to G. Kriuogaitė, many young people face a situation where their income would be enough for a loan, but they do not yet have savings to buy a home.
“A person may have sufficient income for the loan installment but not have 15–20 thousand euros for the initial down payment. In such a case, buying a home is automatically postponed for several years,” she says.
For example, saving 500 euros per month, it would take about two and a half years to accumulate 15,000 euros, and more than three years for 20,000 euros. However, not everyone can maintain such a saving pace while paying rent and other necessary expenses.
Housing prices rise faster than salaries
Kriuogaitė says that the housing affordability problem is not only related to rental prices.
“Currently, the situation is definitely not simple. Housing prices are rising quite rapidly again, and their growth outpaces salary growth. From experience, I would say that the biggest problem for a young person is often not the future loan installment, but accumulating the initial down payment, especially if the person does not have help from parents or other relatives,” she says.
Similar trends in Europe are also observed by Member of the European Parliament Paulius Saudargas.
“In many European countries, housing prices are rising faster than people’s ability to save for their first home,” he says.
The housing problem starts during university years
Financial pressure related to housing begins for many well before they have the opportunity to think about owning a home or a housing loan. For many young people, the first challenges arise during their studies.
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The president of the Lithuanian Student Union, Ieva Vengrovskaja, points out that Lithuania still lacks comprehensive national monitoring of the student housing situation.
“The fact that Lithuania does not have comprehensive national monitoring showing the student housing and financial situation is already a problem in itself,” she says.
According to EUROSTUDENT data, 31% of Lithuanian students live with their parents, another 18% live in student housing, and about 79% face financial difficulties.
According to I. Vengrovskaja, the family’s financial situation can directly affect whether a young person can even choose to study in another city.
“Higher education should not become a privilege for those whose parents can help pay for housing. If a student cannot afford to live in the city where their chosen study program is, their future is partly determined by the family’s financial situation,” says the president of the Lithuanian Student Union.
When housing must be earned while studying
About 60% of Lithuanian students work during their studies, and one in four says that work makes studying more difficult. For those who pay for housing and daily expenses themselves, balancing work and studies becomes even more challenging.
“When a person has to work to pay for housing, food, or other necessary expenses, there is less time and energy left for studies. Fatigue, lack of time, and stress can directly affect study results,” says Ieva Vengrovskaja, president of the Lithuanian Student Union.
Therefore, she says, student housing should not be considered a privilege.
“A dormitory is not a prize for being a freshman. It is social infrastructure that should provide conditions for a person to study regardless of their family’s income,” emphasizes Vengrovskaja.
According to the student representative, there is no national system showing how many students are forced to choose private rent due to the lack of dormitories.
Living with parents is not always a choice
When rent becomes too much of a financial burden, some young people stay living with their parents for a while longer and save for housing.
According to Gintarė Kriuogaitė, expert at FIKS real estate agency, people usually start renting their first independent housing at the age of 23–25. Students move out earlier if they study in another city, but the full rent is usually paid by working young people.
“Usually, this is not a free choice but a financial necessity. A young person might want to live independently, but after calculating rent, utilities, and other expenses, they choose to live with their parents for a few more years and save for their own housing during that time,” she says.
Real estate specialists see such examples more and more often.
When the housing issue delays other life decisions
The housing issue for young people is not only about how much they can afford to pay for rent or a loan. Income and the ability to save for the initial down payment can also affect when a person decides to move out of their parents’ home, start living independently, or plan a family.
“I think housing affordability is definitely one of the factors. A person just starting a career usually first wants to have stable income and solve the housing issue. Therefore, some other major life decisions naturally get postponed,” says Kriuogaitė.
According to her, if housing prices continue to rise faster than salaries, young people will rent housing longer and decide to buy it later. Kriuogaitė notes that this path is more common in Western European countries, where long-term renting has become a normal part of life.
The housing problem is not only a youth issue
“Housing policy is primarily the responsibility of member states, regions, and municipalities. The European Union cannot offer a single model that fits all countries. However, it can help attract investments, reduce unnecessary regulation, promote renovation, and share what works in other countries,” says Saudargas.
But for now, for many young people, the housing problem is solved not by political plans but by personal compromises. Some choose smaller apartments or living with roommates, others stay longer at their parents’ home to save for the initial down payment.
Donatas’s situation is not unique. Rising housing prices and rental costs mean that independent living increasingly becomes not the first step into adult life but a goal that requires preparation for several years. Therefore, young people have to choose not between renting and owning a home, but between independence today and the possibility to buy housing in the future.
The project is partly funded by the European Parliament. However, the author(s) alone are responsible for the opinions or views expressed in the content; the European Parliament cannot be held responsible for them.
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