Over-55s help children on to housing ladder

More than one in four generous Britons aged 55 and over have given financial support to their child or someone else to help them buy their own property, a survey has found.
By The Newsroom
Published 2nd May 2016, 14:54 BST
Updated 2nd May 2016, 15:59 BST

Some 27 per cent of over-55s said they have done this – despite one in six (15 per cent) of those who have supported someone else saying they are ‘not at all’ financially comfortable themselves – the research from credit checking company Experian found.

The findings also underline how property prices have surged and the challenge to raise a deposit has grown tougher in recent decades.

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Three in five (60 per cent) over-55s who have owned their own home said they paid £20,000 or less for the first property they bought – compared with an average UK house price now of around 10 times this, at around £200,000.

And 41 per cent of over-55s who paid a deposit on their home only needed to put down £1,000 or less towards their first property.

One in 10 (10 per cent) people in this age group said they paid for their first home without a deposit and nearly half (44 per cent) of home owners aged over 55 had managed to get on the property ladder between the ages of 20 and 25 years old.

Separate data from the Council of Mortgage Lenders’ (CML) shows the average first-time buyer now is aged around 30 years old.