Family financial support has become a defining factor in UK homeownership, with 97% saying it's difficult for young people to buy a home without family support and property purchase now the single biggest reason for family gifts.
A survey of 2,126 UK adults aged 45 and over, conducted by The Private Office (TPO) in May, found that 80% believe homeownership is becoming increasingly dependent on family wealth.
Property purchase is now the single biggest reason people give financial gifts to family members, cited by 51% of those who have already gifted money, ahead of general living costs (20%) and education (8%). A further 88% of those surveyed say they would consider helping children or grandchildren buy a property.
The research points to a broader change in attitudes towards when wealth should be passed on. 81% of those surveyed believe parents or grandparents should help younger generations financially during their lifetime rather than leaving an inheritance on death, and 83% say younger generations are more reliant on family support than previous ones.
86% of those surveyed have already gifted or loaned money to family members, with gifts far outweighing loans: 82% gifted outright, compared with 12% who loaned the money. Among those who have already gifted, 22% have given over £100,000, and 58% have given more than £20,000, while only 12% gave under £5,000.
Of the 14% who have not yet gifted, 40% plan to do so, with outright gifts before death remaining the preferred form (59%) over inheritance via a will (32%).
Yet current timing doesn't reflect what people actually think is best. 71% say financial support should be given "early, when it can make the biggest impact", and only 8% believe wealth should mainly be passed on after death. This is at odds with the reality: separate FOI data obtained by TPO from HMRC shows that in 2022/23, people aged 85 and over accounted for nearly 60% of all estates that included lifetime gifts, and the largest share of the total value gifted, suggesting that gifting still tends to happen much later in life than people say they would prefer.
The same FOI data shows that only around 15% of estates that included gifts paid inheritance tax on them in 2022/23, meaning most gifts fell within tax-free allowances or were otherwise exempt. However, getting the structure of a gift wrong can prove costly: HMRC has collected an estimated £336 million in inheritance tax over the past five years from failed gifting arrangements, where assets were deemed not to have been fully given away.
The biggest concern holding people back from early gifting is the fear of running out of money in later life, cited by 37% of respondents, followed by concerns about care home costs (16%).
The findings echo wider industry data on the growing role of family support in the property market. According to Savills' 2025 property report, 52% of first-time buyers in 2024 received family financial assistance, up from around 21% roughly 20 years ago, with the average contribution reaching £55,572. Around 173,500 first-time buyers relied on family support to get onto the property ladder that year. Barclays' data shows the Bank of Mum and Dad provided £38.5 billion in support over the past four years, a 71% increase on the previous four-year period.
Daniel Blandford, partner at The Private Office, commented: "What this research makes clear is that the Bank of Mum and Dad has also become the Bank of Grandparents too. The figures on housing are particularly striking. When almost all respondents say it's difficult for young people to buy without family support, that's no longer a peripheral concern, it's become a structural feature of the property market.
"What our clients tell us, though, is that the desire to give is often held back by anxiety about their own future security. The question isn't always 'should I give?', it's 'how much can I safely give?' That's exactly where good financial planning makes a real difference. With the right advice, families can transfer wealth in a way that supports the next generation without compromising their own retirement."
