Home owners in Scotland moving from their first home to a bigger property are less reliant on the Bank of Mum and Dad than those in the rest of the UK, new research has found.
Just one in five second steppers require an average of £12,059 support from family and friends, half the amount of the rest of the UK and are overall less willing to borrow from grandparents and friends with just 3% doing so.
The research from the Bank of Scotland also found that the majority of second steppers say they can fund the buying of a larger home through the equity in their current property.
Some 50% of Scots believe that they will finance their next move with savings with just 19% saying they will need help from others. This is in stark contrast to the rest of the UK where 33% believe they will finance their move with support from friends and family and only 39% believe it will be from savings.
Those having to rely on financial support from family and friends mostly look to their parents, with 14% borrowing from the Bank of Mum and Dad. If the Bank of Mum and Dad is unavailable for withdrawals, just 3% of Scots look to Grandparents or friends for support.
The research also found that 31% say that conditions have improved since last year. There has also been an increase in the number of second steppers who are saving to support their next move, with 64% saying that they are making regular contributions to their savings.
However, whilst the majority of second steppers in Scotland are saving to help with their move, the percentage of Scottish Second Steppers overpaying their mortgage to help increase equity is 26%, much lower than the 37% in the rest of the UK.
‘Second steppers in Scotland are much less reliant on support from family and friends compared to the rest of the UK. It seems that Scots are self-sufficient when it comes to their finances, as most feel that they will fund their move with equity from their current property along with savings,’ said Graham Blair, mortgage director at Bank of Scotland .
‘To be fair to the rest of the UK, house prices have increased at a slower rate in Scotland than the rest of the UK, so that may well be a contributing factor,’ he added.
However, finding the right home remains a key issue for second steppers, with 41% saying that they have not found the right property yet and 26% saying that there is a lack of affordable property available.
These, and other factors, resulted in 58% of second steppers wanting to make the move last year not being able to do so which will have an impact on the number of properties available to first time buyers.
