To think that parents "helping out" their kids to buy property, just keeps house prices high?

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So, a LOT of parents help their kids buy houses these days, as property is expensive.

But surely it's only expensive because people keep buying it at that price?

If these young adults can't afford a £30k deposit, they couldn't buy the houses, and prices might fall because of it?

Or not.

But still, it must be compounding the issue?

And also, maybe, people's expectations are 'too high'? Why would (say) a single 24yo need a 2 bed semi, when maybe a cheaper 1 bed flat would do? Maybe that's a different discussion though?

It's not a case of shame but it can make life more difficult especially with children or as you get older.

It's nothing new. My 93 year old father bought his first house with the help of an inheritance in the late 1940s - it was a bit of a family tradition that grandchildren benefited from wills, not parents, as this was usually the age where they needed the help. The parents had, in turn, been the beneficiaries of their grandparents.

So I'm not sure that:
a) this is the reason for the current situation, which has developed since the 1990s

b) it is unreasonable in itself for parents/grandparents to help financially. What if they spend the money on education instead of housing? Is that OK? Or should they limit the amount they spend on their children to food and clothing (own brand items)? What is in the list of allowed gifts/expenditure, and what isn't?

This is such a non issue. The more important issues are the under supply of housing, affordable and social for the last 40 years, alongside high rents with some bank rules like the landlord must charge rent in excess of at least an extra 35% of the mortgage and foreign ownership leading to empty buildings in major cities.

Not to mention over 1 million homes owned and empty in the UK.

If just these things were tackled then there would be no high prices in some areas and indeed no housing crisis. Some areas would still have high prices due to location and desirability.

Government will not build no matter what they say in their manifestos, the last ten years have shown this. Also local councils and housing associations have been willing to build but are legally not allowed to raise the necessary money by the government. You really could not make it up.

We need to go back to most rental properties being in the hands of local councils and housing associations with a private rental system alongside but a smaller one and not the current one that we see.

Then people would pay a fairer market price depending on size and location like before, not just an overamped price.

And people need to stop judging the entire UK by London. Even the whole southeast is not expensive like what people make out. And across the country some places are still at pre 2007 prices. The entire north is not cheap like some people make out.

Why should family not help out? That is their choice and it's not just a middle and upper class thing to do, working class families help out their kids when they can afford to and want to do so, also and in some areas they can afford to still. Helping out your children is not even a class issue, it's a thing that some parents do across the board and why shouldn't they?

Low wages should be addressed and high rents but a parent should be allowed to help out if they see fit to.

Some parents pay for school trips and holidays, some will not deem these necessary. Some wouldn't want their kids back home after uni or past age 16 /18, each one is different in the way they parent, why would money and housing be any different? And why be jealous of the ones who get help?

Sort out all the other issues...

It like saying it's unfair that he gets paid 70k to your 35k. You simply have to accept that some people get paid more and hard work is not consumerate with high pay. So also accept that some parents help out their children financially. Remember not all richer people help out their children and not all poorer people cannot do so. Some people on low incomes go without to help out their children, whilst others do not. It a parent thing and not an income thing.

Average age of buying first house is 32, so at this point in life you would be looking for a 2 bed house rather than a one bed flat
The age when I wanted a one bed flat was approx 20-30. But I couldn’t afford to buy at that age. By the time I could afford to buy I was in my 30s, engaged and expecting a baby. So a one bed flat was no use to me, by that point I needed a 2-3 bed house. Every flat owner I know has struggled to sell because the people who want the flat can’t afford it, and the people who can afford it need something bigger. Flats seem to mostly be owned by landlords nowadays.

I think it's buy to let that is one of the main issues. Get rid of private renting and make all rented houses social housing, and then the remaining houses for private ownership should be more affordable.

I.e. take the profit out of housing.

They are now based on a double income household where as previously they were based on a single income household.

^^ this.

I am disadvantaged as a single parent. I am advantaged by being lucky enough to have parents willing and able to help me.

You can't really blame older people because they happened to make some money buying in the 70s and then blame them for giving some of it to their children.

My son just bought his first flat. He saved for his own deposit and fees. He's 21. It's doable.

It is supply and demand,
the population is increasing
Builders cannot get permissions AND they want to conserve the value of their own land bank. So they do not try too hard. AND the rest of us do not want southern England especially, to be covered in new towns like Basingstoke or Milton Keynes.
My dad bought his house on his wage, mum was at home.

We needed for wife and I to be working.

We helped child 1 to buy.

*Worse in which way? When I got my first ft job after Uni, I was just happy to be able to rent a place. My furniture was throw aways, my TV about 10yo, my car even older, and holidays abroad was what I aspired to.

I am quite amazed as the things young people seem to be able to afford nowadays.*

My parents bought a 4 bed semi in 1981. My Ddad had an average salary, my DM was a SAHM. The house was 38k, he would have borrowed based on 3 x his salary, plus a small deposit from a previous house. (His parents had died but , I think they lived in rented accomodation, he didnt have an inheritance to set him up)
Similar houses now sell for around 600k. Wages have not gone up anywhere near the same levels.

It's a combination of low interest rates and high rent returns for buy-to-let landlords at the bottom end of the property market that keeps the prices artificially high.

If a landlord can buy a property as an investment and have someone else pay rent which is higher than the landlord's mortgage repayments, then why wouldn't they take advantage? They don't care that the cost of the property is high as long as the rent income covers the mortgage on it. They are sitting pretty.

The trouble is that whenever starter homes go on the market, they are snapped up before young people can even get a look in.

@rosiejaune Get rid of private renting and make all rented houses social housing

Then I’d have to kick out my tenants and have my house sitting empty for years while I work away. I don’t think they’d like that very much!

I got 5% given when I got my first house and took 5 years off the mortage

I am putting money away now for dd to help her get on the market

Parental fiancial support isn’t having a significant affect on house prices. What causes the problem is everyone who’s ever worked in a high bonus job investing in buy to let properties, and investment funds / wealthy people overseas doing the same, because UK property is seen as a safe place for money when compared to stock market. This leads to some people owning dozens of properties and thus there aren’t enough on the market to purchase, which drives up prices.

Also the new builds the big government keeps encouraging always have teeny patios instead of gardens, which leads to proper family houses having inflated prices as, again, there just aren’t enough of them.

Basically prices will be too high until laws are changed to make buy to let unprofitable. Which will never happen because so many politicians own buy to lets...

You have to buy the home that you will realistically grow into over the course of 5 or so years, in my opinion, or it's not worth the hassle.

I bought my first home at 24 (a very modest 3 bed semi). I'm 26 now with two kids. If I had bought a one bed flat it would have been utterly daft. My house is small but livable for a family of 4. Anything smaller would have been uncomfortable.

I'm in the south and every single one of my friends that are homeowners have only been able to buy because of significant cash gifts from parents and grandparents.

Likewise, all of my friends were able to have driving lessons and first cars bought because of parental help.

I'm currently living in a small 2 bed council flat because my private landlord decided to sell. It's highly unlikely I'll ever be a homeowner because I have no one that is able to provide that level of financial support and as a lp I will never earn enough to save £30-40 grand.

I'm not particularly jealous (except for the gardens, I'd sell a limb to have a garden for ds and I!) But it does grate when friends conveniently forget that they had the help and are congratulating themselves on being homeowners as if it's just their own hard work that has got them there.

Yes, in London a lot of people clearly get help with their deposit - this could either be from their parents or an inheritance from some other relative. Without that most people could not save up the average deposit for a first-time buyer in London which is something in the region of 135k....thats too hard to save for even if you are a couple on very good salaries as rents are just too high. Plus, many of these people will be getting help in a few years with yet more inheritance. In London if you are on an ok ish wage e.g. ciraca 50-70 and are a FTB buyer now - you basically do need help at the start and end of your buying journey.

No idea what happens if interest rates go up as a lot of people have a lot of debt in london

By the time I could afford to buy I was in my 30s, engaged and expecting a baby. So a one bed flat was no use to me, by that point I needed a 2-3 bed house
No use, isn't this a reflection of high expectations? I grew up with my mum living in a one bedroom flat until I was 8. She couldn't afford anything else. I had an area of the living room for my bed and limited toys. I used to go to sleep in her bed, which I loved and she carried me to my bed when she went to bed and I was happy.

Young couples expecting to go straight to buy their 3bed semi dream home doesn't help the system.

My DS started to work in a supermarket at 16 working 18h a week whilst doing his A levels. By the time he finished his A levels, he'd saved £12k and paid for his driving lessons.

He then started an apprenticeship and saved another £10k. He is now, at just 20 in a position to start looking to buy his first one bed flat. He is over the moon. The first if all his friends, but was also the only one to work these hours, the only one to rarely go out drinking, not interested in clothes and shoes, eating out twice weekly and travelling the world.

I agree that it can definitely be done but you have to make it your ultimate goal.

People who don't live in the South East or London don't always get it.

A lot of folk don't seem to understand supply and demand here...

Because IMO it's the wanting to make a profit that drives the prices up.

Yes, because a house isn't just seen as somewhere to live - it is seen as an investment, on which people expect to make a profit.

By that argument dual income couples are making it unfair to single people or single income families.

I used to think I wouldn' t help my kids buy. But tbh it makes far more sense than leaving them money in a will later. Very low interest rates and seeing government borrowing drive this decision in my case. These make me think I'd be better not putting money in any investment other than bricks and mortar my children can live in now.

The Airbnb thing has been pushing prices up and decreasing number of permanent homes in locations I know too.

It's all making the market seem ridiculous.

My husband and I bought a two bed flat by ourselves at the age of 22 & 23. ?(we're 31 now) We didnt have anyone to help with a deposit but we didn't need it either. No shame in parents helping their kids out though. We plan to help ours if need be!

As PP have said, I think this is a tiny/non issue. The bigger issue is those owning multiple houses and the fact that we dont build any houses.

We bought a 2 bed mid terrace house in Zone 4/5 5 years ago. We were only able to do that because of an inheritance and a 5% deposit. I have only 1 friend who bought without some kind of help. But we all live in London/outskirts where it is impossible to buy or save without help. Rent is astronomical, far outpacing the higher salaries the capital gets.

I personally dont see a problem with parents helping out, especially in the south. It isnt our fault this is where we were born. I will be doing all I can to help my kids.