Parents pay £6,000 for kids' first homeBank of Mum and Dad forks out cash and help

28 February 2008

Paying off your mortgage means you get a guaranteed return on your money

Parents hand over an average of nearly £6,000 to help their children get on to the property ladder, research showed today.

One in seven first-time buyers are given money by their parents towards a deposit or other costs associated with buying a house, with parents parting with an average of £5,874 each, according to high street bank Abbey.

A further one in 16 people borrow money from their parents so that they can buy their own place, with these loans averaging £19,619.

Help redecorating

Parental help does not end with handing over money, with people also spending an average of 18 hours helping their children find a property to buy, while they devote 22.5 hours to helping them move in and a further 45 hours are spent helping them redecorate.

Parents in the north of England are the most generous, giving their children an average of £6,760 to help them get on to the property ladder, followed by those in London and the South East at £6,485.

At the other end of the scale, people in Scotland get the least help with buying their first home, with parents there handing over an average of only £2,825, although this probably reflects lower property prices in Scotland.

The poll of 750 people was carried out in December last year.

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