Parents helping their children onto the property ladder

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by Kay Murchie

Empty nesters, parents whose children have grown up and moved away from the family home, are downsizing their home in a bid to get their children onto the property ladder.

Research from Savills shows that first-time buyers need help from their parents to get onto the property ladder due to affordability problems.

Consequently, these empty nesters no longer require a large house so are downsizing and giving some of their equity to their offspring.

Lucian Cook of Savills said those who are downsizing are not replacing first-time buyers. All they are doing is freeing up equity in order to get their children onto the property ladder.

In addition, recent data from CreditExpert established that 31% of British grandparents are providing financial assistance to their grandchildren in order to get them on to the property ladder. 11% of British grandparents have expressed concern that the child’s parents are unable to provide adequate financial support.