The £27billion parental property push

British parents have collectively forked out more than £27 billion to help their children buy first homes according to new research from Abbey Mortgages.

The research has found that generous parents are contributing an average of £5,874 to get their children onto the property ladder. Parents also spend an average of 17.8 hours helping their kids to choose their first house and more than 22.5 hours helping them to move in.

At a time when first time buyers are finding it increasingly difficult to get that first foot on the property ladder and are living in the family home for longer the research from Abbey has shown that parents may now be taking action to encourage their kids to fly the nest. Indeed one-in-seven first time buyers are now given money from their parents to invest in their first home and one-in-16 borrow money from their parents to buy their first home, with the average loan standing at a whopping £19,619.

Abbey’s research also found that parents are spending a significant amount of time helping their kids to move out. With an average of 18 hours being invested in searching for the perfect first home, 22.5 hours helping them move in and a huge 45 hours helping their kids decorate their first house, parents are dedicating an equivalent of almost two and a half working weeks to manoeuvre their offspring out of the family home.

Nici Audhlam-Gardiner, Head of Abbey Mortgages, comments: “Buying a first property is an incredibly exciting experience and understandably most parents want to share in this milestone. Because house prices have increased so much over the past few years, buying that first home is also a bigger and more daunting investment than it was for the previous generation so guidance is undoubtedly needed. At Abbey Mortgages, we offer advice on a range of deals for First Time Buyer mortgages to help take some of the stress out of buying a first home.

“We offer mortgages with free valuation and money towards legal costs, as well as mortgages requiring lower deposits, which help reduce the up front costs of buying a home. We can also offer opportunity to share the mortgage loan with up to four other people. All of these can make it easier to get on the property ladder, whether or not your parents have deep pockets.”