Siblings join parents in helping first time buyers quit rental market

New analysis reveals that other family members beyond parents are increasingly lending their financial support to first-time buyers.  

So far this year siblings made up a record 11 per cent of family members contributing to first-time buyer deposits, more than double the share recorded five years ago and surpassing grandparents’ contribution  - eight per cent - for the first time.  

They gave an average of £10,250 to their sibling so far this year which comes against a backdrop of high inflation and rising rents limiting a first-time buyer’s ability to save for a deposit.

Lettings agency Hamptons, using Skipton Building Society data, says parents remain most likely to gift money towards a child’s deposit, making up 72 per cent of those lending support so far this year.  

However, this share has gradually declined from a peak of 80 per cent in 2018 as first-time buyers increasingly look to other family members for help.  

Parents are also the most generous, gifting an average of £15,250 so far in 2023.

After parents and siblings, grandparents were next likely to lend their support and made up eight per cent of family members putting money towards a deposit this year,.

They gifted an average of £10,000 so far this year.

Overall, these family contributions made up an average of 63 per cent of a first-time buyer's total deposit.  

This additional help means that first-time buyers are able to put down bigger deposits than those who have saved entirely themselves.  Over a third of first-time buyers with family support were able to put down a 20 per cent-plus deposit on their home this year.

Hamptons says family help tends to mean first-time buyers purchase a more expensive home.  

The average first-time buyer in Great Britain who had family help paid £257,290 for their home this year, £6,500 more than someone without additional contributions.  

It also allowed them to buy sooner. The average first-time buyer who had a deposit boost from a family member was 31.3 years of age compared to 32.5 years for someone who saved up themselves.

First-time buyers purchasing in Yorkshire & The Humber are most likely to have additional support.  Some 40 per cent of households who purchased their first home here this year received some form of family funding, up from 31 per cent in 2022.  These first-time buyers were gifted an average of £9,770, the second smallest contribution in Great Britain.

In cash terms, first-time buyers in London received the biggest financial boost from family.  On average, they were gifted £34,270 so far this year which is more than double the national average of £14,220.