Did you have any parental help when buying first house?

[forceofagreattyphoon]

Obviously inspired by all the Kirsty allsopp stuff about buying first houses.

Did you have any help from parents or partners parents in any way?

We didn’t get any ‘direct’ money but were only able to save a deposit by living with my parents for very-low rent for 2 years. So technically they did help a lot financially with the process. A lot of people wouldn’t have this option so I am very fortunate and wouldn’t have been able to do it otherwise.

I’d say about 80% of people I know my age (late 20s-early 30s) have all had some form of parental help when purchasing their first house. Ranging from the whole deposit gifted or help with all the fees.

Yes, my father gave me £30,000 in the 90's as a deposit. I bought for £60k and sold for £500k 15 years later. Very lucky.

Yes - they lent us £6k which was 5% back in 2008. We paid for the legal fees, stamp duty, furniture, movers and all the rest, plus paid for new windows and carpets.

My dad bought me a fridge. That was it

I'm in my 40s and a lot of friends bought after receiving an inheritance.

In my case ex and I were made redundant from a startup in the early 2000s that had to pay us a massive redundancy amount which was enough to put down a deposit on a 3 bed home.

I didn’t but my son is just about to get around 160- 180k from my late parents
He plans to use a big percentage of it to buy somewhere but probably not in our city

Yes, my grandmother downsized and released capital which she gave to my sibling and I.

She is absolutely not rich at all, very much working class but with property prices booming she, in her 80s, found herself with a chunk of money when moving into a retirement flat.

Yes, mine were very generous and tapped into their equity for me and my siblings. They wanted to ensure we could get something now rather than inherit, before prices get away completely.

No. My parents bought me a fridge/freezer for my first flat and I was really grateful. Went into negative equity unfortunately so I wasted 5 years of mortgage as my building society made me restart another 25 years when I moved. I wish I'd been more savvy. Good advice would have been better than help with a deposit but no one had much of a clue back then. I actually thought the estate agent acted for both buyer and seller & got ripped off there too :(

Not directly but me and DP stayed with parents so we were able to save enough to buy a decent 3 bed in our mid 20s

We weren't given money directly to help with a deposit or anything, but my husband lived with his parents rent free whilst I continued studying, so that he could save. Which in practical terms is as good as a financial contribution.

Nope, nada, nothing. Scrimped, saved and worked our arses off for a run down little shack of a house and then did the same to do it up. Was bloody hard and never thought we would get there but we did. Was so worth it.

Nothing from anybody.
SIL was gifted £10k from PIL (and all her wedding paid for) but DH got nothing towards either.

Yes, £5k from my parents.
Now exHs parents had always promised us similar, then when we made an offer they went back on it and then said they'd loan us it if we needed it. They didn't like the house we were buying. They could easily have afforded it.

Mid-90s.

House cost £42,500 and mortgage around £32k after the £5k from my parents and money we'd saved ourselves.

Totally different marketplace now.
I expect both my parents and myself with help my kids out, no idea if exH and/or his parents intend to do the same.

No, I bought solo in the last century. Interest rates were in double digits at the time, banks were restricting the amounts they lent to around 2 x salary for a single person, I think this helped to keep house prices more attainable.

I started full time work at 19, was obsessed with the idea of owning my own home, got professional qualifications by night, worked hard, saved hard (high interest rates were an advantage whilst saving), got promotions. So, I saved about the equivalent of a year's salary - covered a sizeable deposit, stamp duty, legal costs and new kitchen and bathroom and borrowed the rest. I lived at home with my lovely parents whilst saving and I used to give my mother about 1/3 of my net salary towards my keep. I had also put life insurance and endowment policy in place early on so I was ready to go when the right property appeared. I would let the auctioneer know that I was mortgage approved with cover already in place. Might not have been the top bidder on my house but I was ready to go.

Almost no holidays, no gym membership, no manicure/pedicure/beauty treatments, restrained clothing spending/hairdressing - all worth it.

After I purchased and settled all the legal costs, my parents did gift me a sum of money which I used to upgrade the kitchen appliances from the ones I would have otherwise installed.

Then, interest rates started to decline gradually so I was able to enjoy myself a bit more, thankfully!

No, but I bought in the 1980’s when no one had any parental help it was unheard of.
However I have saved £50k for each of my DC’s to help when they buy their first home.

Not cash directly but we bought a repossession and my mum paid for the bathroom refit, my dad was a joiner to trade at the time and fitted a kitchen plus numerous other bits and pieces. It was a cheap starter flat but we made enough selling it to put a deposit down on a house

Yes, through inheritance from Grandparents. I can't imagine I'd have ever been able to buy where I live without that, my deposit in order to get a manageable mortgage on my own was over £80k, my small one bedroom flat was over £250k.

No but when we bought in 1999 we could get a 100% mortgage...

Parents lent me around 10% of price towards the deposit, which I paid back monthly and then paid the balance on sale. I had saved another 10% ish myself. This was in the mid 2010s and I'm mid 30s.

Yes, £5k given by both sets of parents for deposit

I was fortunate that my DMum gave me a loan of £30k for a deposit. I remortgaged 10 years ago and paid her back plus market value profit. I'm hoping to be mortgage free in 10 years. I live in a cheaper area of the UK but it's also reflected in salaries/wages. Kirsty Allsop really hasn't a fucking clue.

No none. They didn't have a bean, bless them, so no inheritance to help DC either. But I still owe a great deal of what I have to them, as they provided free childcare for years that enabled me to work, save and buy a home with the money I earned myself.

No, and last year I became a single owner, first-time buyer in my forties (two bed flat). I know it should have felt like an achievement but I still feel "behind" people who had money from their parents in their 20s-30s - both in property ladder, obviously, and self-esteem (illogical I know but it's there).

It feels like a big divide that cashes out over a lifetime, in terms of freedom/work choices/disposable income/retirement age. Not unlike private school in terms of fairly arbitrary "bumps" in life, and I was pretty naive the broader effects of having help to buy a property until recently

No and I only know one person who did but we bought in 2006 when it was much easier to get a mortgage

I bought alone in 2015 after having rented in a houseshare in a somewhat undesirable area for only £320 per month including utilities. This low rent and sacrifices that I made in terms of location enabled me to save towards my deposit. My parents kindly let me stay with them rent-free for the 3 months gap between leaving my rental and the house purchase going through (break further up the chain delayed completion).