Over-18s to get property help from parents

Parents are planning to take advantage of lower house prices with 70 per cent believing now is the right time to assist their offspring with property purchases.

Almost a quarter of parents with children over the age of 18 plan to use their savings to help them buy their first home, say Lloyds TSB, who conducted the survey.

On average parents have a savings pot of around £41,000 which they are prepared to use.

The bank says this will help to maintain the steady increase in the number of first-time buyers entering the market following a rapid decline in 2008.

First-time buyer numbers have more than doubled since the beginning of the year and accounted for two out of every five house purchases during the second quarter of this year.

Stephen Noakes, commercial director of mortgages at Lloyds TSB, said there is "real opportunity" in the current housing market for parents and first-time buyers who can put down a deposit.

"Housing affordability is back to the level it was in 2003," he said. "So many parents with grown-up children want to help them take advantage by using their savings."

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