Parents relaxed about kids’ property prospects

AROUND 20 percent of parents think that their children have a better chance of inheriting a house than buying one these days, according to research from GoCompare.com.

While many youngsters still rely on help from their parents to buy their first home, almost a quarter of parents said they didn’t have any spare cash to give, while around half said they would like to help but if they did they would end up eating into their own savings.

Only 20 per cent said they could comfortably afford to help their children buy a home.

It seems parents are taking a relaxed view on this, with almost half of those questioned suggesting their children go off and see the world before bothering with a property purchase while just over twenty per cent said that their kids should just rent somewhere. Ten per cent suggested their offspring should just emigrate and buy a house overseas.

Overall the outlook is not very optimistic, with parents estimating their children would be into their thirties before they would be able to get a foot on the property ladder. Forty per cent of parents questioned expressed concern that their children might never be able to buy their own home.

Matt Sanders from Gocompare.com said: “Our survey suggests young adults are living at home with their parents for far longer than previous generations. There are a variety of explanations why many twenty-somethings are not financially independent from their parents, sometimes well into adulthood.

“Young people are more likely to stay in full-time education than previous generations, and while they benefit from a university education, tuition fees mean they are saddled with more debt. Over the last decade house prices have risen, as has the size of mortgage deposits lenders require, however wages have remained static.

“As a result, millennials’ experience with home ownership has been very different to previous generations.”