25 Oct 2021Research carried out by property group Savills has found that half of first-time buyer home purchases are financed by the so-called 'bank of mum and dad'. Parents' contributions towards buying a first home are likely to top £9.8 billion this year, Savills found. It said that rising house prices have only put pressure on first-time homebuyers. The bank of mum and dad has provided first-time buyers with £53.9 billion over the past ten years, the research showed. Commenting on the research, Frances Clacy, Residential Research Analyst at Savills, said: 'Despite strong levels of activity and price growth across the housing markets, lenders have tended to favour less risky, lower loan to value lending, making it harder for new buyers to access the market for the first time without assistance. 'While we expect lending at a higher loan-to-value ratio to continue to be available, slowly rising interest rates will act as a brake on affordability.'