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AIBU?

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Telegraph article - ‘We gave our son £325k to buy a flat – or he would have been stuck renting forever’

253 replies

floral2027 · 24/09/2024 16:05

https://archive.ph/JujMC#selection-4141.0-4152.0

It found that this year, 42pc of properties bought by people aged under 55 will have help from the <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/JujMC/www.telegraph.co.uk/money/sons-13000-more-bank-mum-dad-daughters/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">Bank of Mum and Dad,* *equal to 335,000 transactions. By 2026 that will reach £11.3bn.

'His recent clients include Rick and Linda Denton, who rearranged their finances to free up £325,000 to help their 29-year-old son onto the property ladder.
The couple, both 63, were keenly aware that without assistance he and his girlfriend, despite both having full-time professional jobs, would be stuck in expensive rental accommodation forever.

Rick Denton knew his son would be stuck renting forever without financial help
Their gift has enabled their son to buy a two-bedroom flat in Denmark Hill, south London. Their 30-year-old daughter, a lawyer, was given a similar amount to buy her flat in West Hampstead, north London, three years ago.
“We felt it was important to give them a good start in life,” says Rick, who has worked in financial services, and is now an investor, company director, and entrepreneur. “We wanted to make sure they got through university debt free, and could buy a reasonable property in London. We didn’t want them bowed with debt.”
But equally Rick and Linda, who runs her own public relations firm, didn’t want to give their kids a completely free ride. Their son <a class="break-all" href="https://archive.ph/o/JujMC/www.telegraph.co.uk/money/property/mortgages/lloyds-offfers-first-time-buyers-mortgage-5-times-salary/" rel="nofollow" target="_blank">borrowed four times his annual salary to help pay for the rest of the property, with his girlfriend’s wages also factored in.
The couple, who live on Guernsey, were able to finance their contribution by dipping into their investment portfolio.'

Am I the only one who feels that if this continues, the young (who don't have Bank of Mum and Dad) might be totally demotivated (and that the rest of the UK would also become the inheritocracy that London is as there would be a ripple effect).

I did benefit from the inheritocracy too (parents paid my university fees/london rent for 3 years, DH and I had rent free living for 3 years at his mum's house in London), but definitely not to the tune of £325k. I am mystified as to why the son needed such a huge sum to buy a 2 bed flat (I also bought a 2 bed flat in my 20s) and the only other alternative to such a large sum would have been an existence in precarious private rental forever. They also paid his uni fees too so the parental subsidy from age 18 was much more than 325k. Apparently average gift to London FTB (cash gift) is 70k as of 2024.

OP posts:
GreenTeaLikesMe · 26/09/2024 01:37

This reply has been deleted

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Kendodd · 26/09/2024 07:46

Genevieva · 25/09/2024 18:46

Any attempt to tax people or block people from spending on their own kids would backfire massively. Indeed, I’d say it would be political suicide. Doing the best for your children is a fundamental natural instinct. We are already losing more rich taxpayers than any other country except China. Policies like this eviscerate a country by eliminating the tax base through over-taxation. In the modern world people with assets and desirable skills can move internationally very easily.

And it was even easier for our young people to move abroad (pre brexit) than for any billonaire to move. I would argue we need our young much more than the super rich. I wonder if that is one reason governments are so determined not to give them free movement back?

MoneyNeverSleeps · 26/09/2024 08:07

Kendodd · 26/09/2024 07:46

And it was even easier for our young people to move abroad (pre brexit) than for any billonaire to move. I would argue we need our young much more than the super rich. I wonder if that is one reason governments are so determined not to give them free movement back?

This is plain wrong.

Its relatively easy for a billionaire to move and always has been - they are positively courted by certain jurisdictions.

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