Parents to help housing market bounce back

September 8, 2020 by Brendan O'Neill

Property Market

The latest research from Legal & General suggests that parents are set to play a large role in helping the housing market bounce back in the wake of the pandemic.

The research indicates that 23% of all of the house purchases that take place before the end of this year are set to be financed primarily by parental savings, which amounts to almost one out of every four purchases. By comparison, the number of house buys funded in that way during the whole of 2019 was just 19%, which shows the economic effects of the pandemic on younger people.

Legal & General’s study reveals that 24% of younger borrowers were largely dependent on parental monetary support due to the virus and resultant lockdown. When it comes to those who have successfully bought their first home since the crisis started, 65% told the researchers that it was not very likely that they could have afforded to do so without parental help.

One out of every five stated that if they had not been able to fall back on this support, it would have taken them over five years to be able to afford a house. Another 14% stated that buying a home would never have been affordable without it.

Speaking to Mortgage Finance Gazette, Legal & General CEO Nigel Wilson said that this presented problems for would-be homebuyers unable to access that kind of help.

Mortgage advisors with CeMAP training can help buyers with restricted budgets.