More than a fifth of students starting university this year plan to continue living with their parents to save money, a survey showed today.

Around 22 per cent of students plan to stay at home while they study, 35 per cent of whom claim they would not be able to afford to go to university if they had to pay for their own accommodation.

A further 38 per cent said that while it would be possible for them to move out, they would have to take on additional debt to do so, according to Lloyds TSB.

But 42 per cent of young people said remaining at home was an easy option and they would chose to stay put even if they could afford to move out.

Parents are less enthusiastic-about having their children at home while they are at university, with 73 per cent admitting that if money was not an issue they would want their offspring to move out in order for them to gain independence.

Family therapist Phillip Hodson warned that the psychological consequences of students staying at home could be severe.

He said: "Stay-at-home youngsters tend to remain adolescent with damaged powers of personal decision making. Indeed, some of them, especially boys, get stuck at home until they are 30 or older, partly because they have not managed this crucial break at 18.

"They may well believe 'the living is easy', but only because their parents continue to cook, wash up and pay the bills. The catch is that young people are the ones being deprived of survival life skills."

Among students planning to live away from home while they are at university, 58 per cent said they thought the independence they would gain was worth the extra financial burden.

A third of people said they had chosen a university that was too far away to make living at home an option and ten per cent said they were not worried about the additional debts they would incur as a result of living independently.

Six out of ten students also said they were attracted by the social life they would have if they left home and 23 per cent admitted they wanted to escape from their parents' clutches.

Just under half of those students who were leaving home for college said they would live in university halls of residence, while 44 per cent planned to live in a shared house.