I'm 24 and my boyfriend is 29. I moved out when I was 18 to go to university. I have recently moved back in with my parents after starting a new job nearby. I pay about £150 board each month and buy all my own food which I think is reasonable. I moved back home to save a bit of money whilst I get back on my feet after changing jobs/moving cities. My boyfriend on the other hand has always lived with his parents and never moved out. I think he pays about £100 a month board and doesn't do any food shopping.
We've been together about 8 months now. At first it didn't bother me that he lived with his parents because I'm a very understanding person and I really care about him. I'm getting to the stage now though where I want to move out. I have found moving home tough as I had a difficult childhood, and I just feel like I've lost my independence and privacy. I have some savings but not enough to buy a house so I would have to rent. As I am likely to move due to my career, it also makes sense to rent. By renting I mean getting a house share, as opposed to renting a whole property.
However, my boyfriend says that renting is a waste of money and that he would never do it. He also encouraged me to move back home and seems judgemental when I say I want to move out and rent. Now I'm not expecting to move in with him right now, but at some point down the line I would obviously expect to. The thing is he has absolutely no savings despite the fact he has earned a very decent wage for 10 years+ and never paid rent. So he will have to start saving a deposit from scratch, which I imagine would take at least 2 years. Now to me it just doesn't seem feasible to live at home for 2 years+. I appreciate it would take me longer to save for a deposit if I rented, but I feel like having freedom/privacy from parents in your late-twenties/a relationship is important.
Obviously I will have a serious conversation with him about this at some point, but I am just curious to see people's views on this. What do you think about living at home in your twenties? Is this sort of situation common? What would you do in this situation?