A lot has been made of how much the so-called Bank of mum and dad help their offspring get onto the housing ladder but new research shows that over a third will not help.
The survey found that 34% of people say they have not and do not intend to offer financial support to children and grandchildren to help them to buy a home but the number does vary on a regional basis.
For example, people in the East Midlands are least likely to offer support with 40% saying they had not and did not intent to offer support for a home, according to the research from Royal London.
They were followed by respondents in the North East where 39% said they did not intend or could not to offer this support, in the North West it was 37% and 35% in Yorkshire and Humber, the West Midlands and the East of England.
Despite this a sizeable proportion of parents are still willing and able to provide assistance to cash strapped family members. Overall parents in London were most likely to want or be able to help their offspring with 39% saying they either had or intend to help their children with a property purchase.
Of those who said they had, or planned to provide assistance, some 37% said they expected the amount provided to be less than £10,000. A further 28% said they had, or expected to provide somewhere between £10,000 and £20,000 to family members.
The poll also found that 11% of those who had or planned to provide financial assistance said they had or expected to provide in excess of £50,000 to children and grandchildren.
In terms of the conditions under which the money is handed over, 57% said the money should be seen as a gift that doesn’t need to be paid back while a further 27% said the money should be seen as an advance on inheritance. Only 15% said they expected the money to be repaid.
‘The rising phenomenon of the Bank of Mum and Dad has received much publicity but the findings make clear that not all parents have, or are willing, to offer financial support to children,’ said Royal London Personal finance specialist Helen Morrissey.
‘There are several reasons for this. House prices in areas such as the North West and East Midlands are much lower than in areas such as London so it may be the case that parents and grandparents feel their family members do not need their support as much as in other areas of the UK,’ she explained.
‘It may also be the case that these people have other demands on their money and cannot simply hand it over. Anyone looking to hand over money to help a loved one needs to ensure they take their own future needs into account before doing so as they do not want to leave themselves short of money at a later date,’ she added.
