The latest research by HomeOwners Alliance shows that more than more than half (54%) of homeowners with adult children have or expect to help their children financially to buy a home. But homeowning parents worry about the prospects of their adult children who do not currently own their home being able to buy.
Amongst home owning parents with adult children who do not own their home:
● 59% worry about their children’s chances of owning in the future
● Half (50%) wish they could provide more financial support than they can
● And 1 in 4 (25%) feel guilty about not being able to provide more support
The homeowners who expect to help their children financially to buy a home have said that providing this financial support is expected to have a direct impact on the lives of parents themselves with 56% expecting to be affected.
The latest research by HomeOwners Alliance shows that parents play a pivotal role in helping their children get a foot on the housing ladder and worry about their children who do not currently own their home being able to buy. Among this group, 59% worry about their children’s chances of owning in the future. Half of parents with adult children who do not yet own a home wish they could do more to support their children financially to buy and a quarter feel a real sense of guilt about the level of support they are able to provide.
More than half (54%) of parents with adult children (age 18+) have either helped or expect to help their children with financial support to buy a home. And by providing this support, the majority of parents (56%) expect this to have a direct impact on their own financial position. Among those who expect to support their children, 28% say this will mean dipping into savings or investments; leaving 13% concerned they won’t have enough money for the long term and 10% worried they might not have enough money should they need long term care. One in ten (9%) parents lending support say they may need to work longer and delay retirement and a similar proportion (9%) say they may need to downsize their home.
Paula Higgins, Chief Executive, Homeowners Alliance, says:
“While we all know that the Bank of Mum and Dad is supporting many people’s first steps onto the housing ladder, what our survey shows is the emotional and financial strain it puts on families in today’s Britain. Parents with adult children understand the importance of homeownership but are overwhelmingly worried, want to help more and feel guilty they can’t. Beyond the emotional burden, there is a worrying picture emerging of the impact this is having on older parents' life. Our survey found that many people were worried that helping may leave them financially short. And 1 in 10 may even delay their retirement and work longer into old age in order to help their child buy a house.
The system is just too pressurised. At one end of a lifetime we have young people giving up on the dream of homeownership unless they’re lucky enough to have access to the bank of mum and dad, while in later life, we see parents using savings and delaying their retirement to help them. We are calling on the government to reinstate local housing targets as a matter of urgency.”
For first time buyers struggling to get on the housing ladder, the property advice website HomeOwners Alliance has a raft of advice and services to help you with:
Working out what you can afford. How much can you afford? What will monthly mortgage repayments cost? And what are all of the other costs of buying a home you’ll need to budget for?
Boosting your deposit with a Lifetime ISA and getting tips on how to save for a deposit. The return of 100% mortgages means you can buy without a deposit at all. Or consider combining your purchasing power by buying with a partner or buying with friends.
How to ask for help with the various ways to get support from the Bank of Mum and Dad including gifted deposits, the Barclays Family Springboard and other types of guarantor mortgage schemes that enable you to borrow more than you could on your own.
First time buyer schemes. Younger homeowners are 3 times more likely to use government home buying schemes to buy a first home, such as Shared Ownership and the First Homes scheme. Other schemes like Deposit Unlock run by house builders to help you buy a new build home with just a 5% deposit.
