Almost half (48%) of young adults facing housing insecurity say that a lack of financial education is the primary cause of these problems, Money Ready has found.

The same proportion of young Brits aged 18 to 40 have suffered from housing insecurity over the last five years, ranging from rental or mortgage arrears to eviction, emergency accommodation and rough sleeping.

One in four (25%) have experienced this at the most severe end of the scale, from sofa surfing, staying in emergency accommodation or shelter, or sleeping on the street or in a car.

Money Ready said that its research, funded by the Berkeley Foundation, highlights a "stark association" between financial literacy and housing issues, as young people with the lowest financial literacy (57%) are nearly twice as likely to face housing insecurity overall compared to those with high financial literacy (29%).

Furthermore, the correlation is more acute at the severe end of homelessness, with low literacy groups being three times as likely to have faced rough sleeping (12%) or eviction proceedings (9%).

The data shows that 35% of 18- to 40-year-olds felt completely unprepared for the financial demands of independent living, while 22% have never received any formal financial education or guidance at any point in their lives.

The research has been released ahead of World Homeless Day on 10 October.

Director of fundraising and communications at Money Ready, Becky Young, stated: "On World Homeless Day, we must talk about prevention, not just emergency relief. We are setting young people up to fail if we expect them to navigate a complex, expensive housing market without giving them basic financial tools first.

"When half of young adults tell us that a lack of financial education directly contributed to their housing distress, we cannot treat youth homelessness purely as an unpredictable crisis - it is an education void. We urgently need real-world money lessons embedded to provide young people with essential independent living survival tools."

Head of the Berkeley Foundation, Sally Dickinson, concluded: "This research shows a clear and concerning link - young adults without basic financial education are far more vulnerable to severe housing hardship. While financial education alone cannot solve the structural shortage of affordable housing, leaving young adults to navigate the system without basic guidance significantly increases their risk.

"By partnering with Money Ready, we are championing early, practical support so that young people enter the housing market informed and resilient."

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