First time buyers are less likely to be supported by the Bank of Mum and Dad as a third of parents are unable to financially support their children.

Research from Royal London has revealed that 34% of parents have not and do not intend to offer financial support to children and grandchildren to help them get on the property ladder.

Those first time buyers with parents living in the East Midlands were least likely to offer support with 40% of respondents saying they no to financial assistance and only 21% said they had a plan in place.

This was followed by those in the North East where 39% of parents or grandparents said no to financial assistance with the North West on 37% with Yorks and Humber, West Midlands and East of England on 35%.

With competition from buy-to-let investors, reduced supply of suitable properties and rising house prices, prospective home buyers must continue renting and saving for a bigger deposit.

Parents in London give the most help

The most supportive parents live in London with 39% saying they either had or intend to help their children with a property purchase and only 24% said they would not help.

The following table from Royal London shows the results from the poll of 2,100 people across the country and their responses.

Region	Provide help	No help	Don't know
Average	28%	34%	38%
East Midlands	21%	40%	40%
North East	30%	39%	31%
North West	25%	37%	38%
Yorks and Humber	32%	35%	33%
West Midlands	26%	35%	38%
East of England	26%	35%	38%
South West	33%	34%	33%
Wales	21%	33%	46%
Scotland	28%	30%	42%
Northern Ireland	26%	30%	44%
London	39%	24%	37%

Some of the regions with the highest proportion providing no financial assistance also have a high proportion of people offering support by finding ways of raising extra money.

These areas offering the highest financial support after London are the South West on 33%, Yorks and Humber with 32% and the North East on 30%.

Older family members such as grandparents could help if they access cash using a lifetime mortgage and for smaller amounts, provider fixed interest rates can be very competitive.

See how much cash you can you release from your home to gift your family for a deposit and the interest rate using this link:
Free equity release calculator with instant figures to release cash to gift a deposit.

Without family help to upsize, the only option is for home movers is to stay in their existing home and continue saving more for a bigger deposit.

Helen Morrissey, personal finance specialist at Royal London said, the rising phenomenon of the Bank of Mum and Dad has received much publicity but the findings make clear that not all parents are willing or able to offer financial support to children.

How much do parents offer?

For the parents and grandparents who have planned to or had already helped children, 37% expected the amount provided to be less than £10,000 and 28% provided between £10,000 and £20,000.

Interestingly, 11% of those who had or planned to provide financial assistance said they had or expected to provide in excess of £50,000 to children and grandchildren.

Of the amounts from parents or grandparents, 57% said the money should be seen as a gift that doesn’t need to be repaid while a further 27% saw this as an advance on inheritance with only 15% expecting the money to be repaid.

For grandparents with a lifetime mortgage, family members receiving a lump sum for a deposit can agree to pay them the equivalent of the interest each month thereby reducing the cost of equity release.

For remortgage buyers currently on their lenders standard variable rate, switching to a cheaper mortgage deal would reduce the cost of monthly repayments gifting the savings to their children.

The older equity release mortgage buyer such as grandparents can access property wealth and gift cash for a specific reason to a family member to buy their first home and this would reduce inheritance tax owed by your beneficiaries.

However, house prices in the North West and East Midlands are much lower than regions like London so parents and grandparents may feel their family members do not need their support as much as in other areas of the UK, says Ms Morrissey.

What are your next steps?

Talk to our London City Mortgage advisers if you are a grandparent and gifting the deposit to a family member, we can recommend the lifetime mortgage and take you through the process to provider valuation and offer.

Find out more about the best way to access cash to give to a family member using a lifetime mortgage and the interest rates at this link:
Free equity release quote with interest rates if you are gifting a deposit.

Our expert mortgage advisers can show you the leading provide products to meet your objectives. Learn more by using the equity release calculator, property value tracker chart and mortgage costs calculator.