THIS CROWDED HOUSE
This Crowded House is a four part series for RTÉ2 that intervenes in the not-so-unusual phenomenon of adults in their 20s and 30s who are living at home with their parents. In July, latest figures from the Central Statistics Office revealed that almost 460,000 adults over 18 still live at home. It confirms the Eurostat 2016 survey that found that almost 23% – or 1 in 4 Irish adults – over 25 are living in the family home.
Presented by Brendan Courtney, This Crowded House follows the journey of eight different Irish families as their adult children try to figure out how to move out. Brendan helps these adult children explore their options in this current tricky housing market, as well as helping them get on the right financial path to independent futures, calling on the necessary expertise where needed.
Episode 2 of 4
This week, Brendan is in Castleknock in Dublin and also in the small village of Pallaskenry, Co. Limerick to meet two more adult children living at home and looking for help to move out.
32-year-old Joanna Bourke is back living in her mum’s lovely Castleknock home the past year, after living away from home for 5 years. Joanna works full time in Property Management, which in today’s property market hasn’t proved any advantage to her! Joanna is also studying part time, and it was her college fees coupled with her sky-rocketing rent that forced her back to her childhood bedroom.
Now on a better footing financially, Joanna is eager to try and fly the nest once again. She has high expectations initially and after meeting This Crowded House Financial Planner, Eoin McGee, her hopes and ambitions for what and where she would love to rent take a severe hammering.
With the help of presenter Brendan Courtney, Joanna regroups and begins her search again in earnest – but it’s a crazy rental market out there in Dublin and it’s not long before it rears its ugly head during Joanna’s quest for independence.
Down in Limerick, it’s a slightly different story for 26-year-old Brian Barry. Rents outside cities like Dublin are also sky-rocketing, up 12% nationwide in a year. For Brian however, his biggest worry isn’t the cost of rent, it’s whether he can find somewhere to live in his local village.
Brian has never moved out of home before – and why would he when he readily admits it’s like a 5 star hotel and his mother does everything for him.
But Brian has bagged himself a girlfriend in recent months, and now wants to prove himself to her and prove that he can stand on his own two feet. His girlfriend wants him to live on his own for a while, before she’ll even consider taking the next step in their relationship and moving in together.
In a competitive rural market where rentals are thin on the ground, Brian will be up against it as he doesn’t have any previous landlord references.
It may mean trying to rent outside his beloved hometown – a prospect that Brian despises. Will he step up and move outside the village and prove his independence to his girlfriend, or will he dig his heels in and stay tied to those apron strings a bit longer?