Family financial support has become a defining factor in UK homeownership, according to new research from The Private Office (TPO), a chartered independent financial advice firm in the UK.
A survey of 2,126 UK adults aged 45 and over, conducted by TPO in May 2026, found that 97% believe it is difficult or very difficult for young people to buy a home without family support, while 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, with 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 think is best, as 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 Freedom of Information (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 £336m in inheritance tax over the past five years from failed gifting arrangements, where assets were deemed not to have been fully given away.
Despite high willingness to give, 64% of those surveyed say they would feel comfortable giving a large sum to younger family members during their lifetime, and retirement security remains the main barrier. 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%).
Daniel Blandford, Partner at The Private Office, said: “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.”
