In the context of poorly performing national economies and sustained employment insecurity since the Global Financial Crisis of 2007–2008, various UK and US studies have suggested that the transitions of younger people into independent living and into homeownership, in particular, have been in decline. Testing the wider validity of these findings for western European countries, this paper uses cross‐sectional European Union Statistics on Income and Living Conditions data to deconstruct to what extent and on which basis pre‐crisis to post‐crisis changes in the living arrangements of 18–34‐year olds have varied across 15 European Union countries. Our results confirm a common trend towards diminishing access to homeownership, bringing about larger rental sectors in many countries. Yet, we are far from observing the rise of a ‘Generation Rent’, because the stronger transformation process is one towards a higher share of younger adults living in co‐residence with their parents. Our empirical study further demonstrates that the directions of these shifts may vary strongly across countries, where the crisis has in some cases undermined existing residential patterns and forced realignment in the living arrangements among younger generations. Moreover, the study suggests that, although higher post‐crisis declines in young‐age homeownership is also associated with adverse labour market conditions, it seems to be primarily the volatility of more financialised housing markets that lead to increasing difficulties for younger people to realise housing property ownership. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

There is much evidence of rising inequalities across advanced economies. This paper argues for the special position of housing equity in inequality dynamics while challenging a persistent "ideology of mass homeownership" as a widespread and equalizing mechanism of asset accumulation. Contemporary dynamics of diminished homeownership access contrast to the continued attractiveness of real estate among those with capital and recent growths in private landlordism. The research presents an explorative examination of the housing wealth dimension of inequality through the British case and assesses empirically the dimensions of: equity concentration, inter and intra-generational divergences, and the role of private landlordism. The research points to the starkly concentrated nature of housing equity and significant trends towards increasing disparities, with especially disadvantaged prospects among younger cohorts. The recent emergence of a substantial secondary rental-property market presents a further key dimension of wealth concentration. The research underscores the fundamental inequality of housing equity and brings into question rooted ideologies of housing-asset-based economic security in an era of individualized welfare responsibility.

Transitions to adulthood not only represent a key period for individual development but also contribute to processes of social stratification. Growing evidence has pointed to increased complexity, postponement and individualization in transition dynamics. Previous research has focused on trends in school-to-work transitions and family formation; however, the central role of housing represents an interrelated process that is less understood. As pathways to adulthood have diversified, many young people experience partial independence in one sphere while continued dependence in others. Semi-dependent housing, either through parental coresidence or shared living, can be an important coping mechanism. Using the EU-SILC dataset, the research investigates the role that semi-dependent living plays within emerging adulthood across varied European contexts. The data suggests that the extent and type of semi-dependent housing varies substantially across EU15 countries. The findings indicate that levels of housing independence can be partly explained by welfare regime context while the propensity for shared living appears correlated with affordability in the rental market.Although socio-cultural and economic trends play an important and interrelated role, the study argues that housing dynamics of young adulthood and the role of semi-dependent living is fundamentally shaped by the context of the housing system and welfare regime.

With continued economic growth and expanding mortgage markets, until recently the pattern across advanced economies was of growing homeownership sectors. The Great Financial Crisis (GFC) has however, undercut this growth resulting in the contraction of homeownership access in many countries and the revival of private renting. This paper argues that these tenure changes are not solely a consequence of the GFC, and therefore, reversible once long-term growth returns. Rather, they are the consequences of more fundamental changes especially in labour markets. The very financialisation that fuelled the growth of homeownership has also led to a hollowing out of well-paid, secure jobs—exactly those that fit best with the taking of housing loans. We examine longer-term declines in labour market security across Europe from before the GFC, identifying an underlying correlation between deteriorated labour market conditions and homeownership access for young adults. While variations exist across European countries, there is evidence of common trends. We argue that the GFC both accelerated pre-existing labour insecurity dynamics and brought an end to offsetting such dynamics through the expansion of credit access with the likelihood of a return to an era of widespread homeownership growth starkly decreased.