There are so many boxes to unpack from the recent story about young adults in Malta who still live with their parents – ranging from the sublime to the sinister.

Interestingly enough, author Dylan Cassar’s original presentation on ‘Shifting Entryways to Homeownership’ last year looked at the role of financial institutions for those entering the property market.

The study he conducted for the Foundation for Affordable Housing found that the impact of rising property prices is largely being offset by family dynamics.

More young people are staying at their family home longer, moving out when they have had time to save up money.  In the meantime, more parents are giving their offspring their starter homes: the number given by gift or inheritance more than doubled from 10 per cent in the 2000s to 21 per cent in the last decade. Of course, this has to be seen in the context of the number of people who owned their home and opted to turn it into units they could then ‘pass on’ to their children.

How does this fit into the context of rising property prices? According to a 2023 KPMG report, a single buyer in their late 20s earning a wage of €21,000, roughly Malta’s average income, could only afford to buy a property worth up to €171,000. And, guess what? Only just over five per cent of finished apartments on the market fall into this price bracket. 

So, without significant family help – either by delaying the flight from the nest or by relying on the generous parent ‘bank’ – many first-time buyers would simply not be able to step onto the property ladder until much later in life.

What are the implications of 59 per cent of adults aged 18 to 34 living with their parents – for their own development and for their parents’ independence? Maltese society is built on strong family networks and close proximity across generations – but how much of this is based on expectations as opposed to mutual respect?

Are young adults living with their parents for longer – often until they get married – because it is more convenient for them to do so? Or because they have no choice financially?

We often used the Italian term ‘mammone’ to describe the relatively large number of men who never left their home until they got married. Today, there are different reasons why they are delaying departing their family home.  Abroad, distances to study institutions or workplaces often make it impossible for offspring to stay at home; they have no option but to find their own accommodation.

The Maltese do not have that pressure but are missing out on the experience of being independent, going from family home to marital home without ever living on their own. 

What will it be like going forward, with more women going to work and parents working until their mid-60s.

There is no getting away from the financial red flags, however. One of the heads at the Housing Authority had said during a conference on affordable housing last year that a household should spend no more than 25 per cent of its income on housing.

At that same conference, the head of the Foundation for Affordable Housing warned that 10,000 households were spending more than 40 per cent of their income on housing.

There is a very precarious balance between family dependence and the steep climb to the first rung of the property ladder.

It is our duty to ensure that, if offspring are ready to leave the nest, they should be able to choose when to do so.