One quarter of all under-35s who have jobs are still living at home, according to Shelter.

The charity said that 48% of 20 to 34-year-olds are doing so because they cannot afford to move out.

Data from the last Census, released to Shelter, showed 1.97m working young adults living with their parents – equating to a quarter of all 20 to 34-year-old working adults in England.

Further analysis of the Census data uncovered several areas where the proportion of adult children living with their parents is much higher.

The nation’s “clipped wing” hotspots include: Castle Point in Essex where 45% of working 20 to 34-year-olds live with their parents; Knowsley in Merseyside where it’s 42%; and Solihull where 38% of young, working adults live with their parents.

“Increasing numbers of under-35s are seeing their housing options picked off one by one. First it was too expensive to buy, now it’s too expensive to rent and, for hundreds of thousands, it’s now too expensive to leave home at all.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “With the crippling cost of housing leaving over a million young adults trapped in their childhood bedrooms no matter how hard they work or save, empty nest syndrome could soon become a thing of the past.”

Shelter is calling on all political parties to commit to finding an affordable homes solution.

Matt Hutchinson, of property website SpareRoom.co.uk, said: “Increasing numbers of under-35s are seeing their housing options picked off one by one. First it was too expensive to buy, now it’s too expensive to rent.

“Add into the mix the escalating cost of getting a degree and it’s easy to see why so many young people leave education wondering what kind of economic future they face.

“Housing has simply become too expensive to meet the needs of the UK population. Too little is being done to solve the problem of a chronic lack of supply.”