Find out how Gransnetters helped their DC get on the property ladder

My youngest son was buying a house the year I lost my DM so we were able to help with the deposit from my inheritance. There was no formal agreement and I am hopeful that if I need financial assistance in my later years he will help to support me !

We were unable to help any of ours on to the housing market. Not with any significant lump sums. Helped out with bits and bobs.

All three have managed to buy a property

Always been there for advice & whatever financial help we could with all 3. On one or more occasions we had them live with us for a while in between selling & purchasing properties

We down sized four years ago and gave both are children help with deposits for there first houses

Yes we helped with the deposit to help our daughter . They
desperately needed a larger home with the late addition of a teenage stepchild, making four kids in a small rented house. I suggested they look into the possibility of getting a mortgage, offering help with the deposit. They also found they were eligible for the government scheme for 1st time buyers and were able to buy a new home. We are delighted it worked out so well for everyone.

Am in discussions atm re daughter's house purchase next year, and how to maximise the tax advantages of my (small) contribution. Not dying for 5 years seems to be key!

I've squirrelled away an amount that can be used as a deposit, but DS isn't in a position to buy right now. This is intended to be a gift, but I'd like him to be able to safeguard it in some way. I was lucky - nobody was in a position to help when I was buying but the restrictions were much lighter, otherwise I'd have been in trouble.

I would certainly consider helping out with a property purchase if I could as I feel it offers some security for the future. However, I would be keen to try to protect any money I gave in case of relationship breakdown if it was a joint purchase between my child and their partner.

If you are in a position to help, why not do it now when they need it, rather than leaving money in your will?

Not all parents are not that lucky to help there children but yes if they can what people don’t know this living wage is great and private pensions but all parents need to tell there children get it in to there brains because they will never get pension credits so if they don’t help or sort then there children when they get pension age they will suffer badly so yes all parents need to help and teach

Our DD and DSiL were saving so hard to buy the apartment that they were renting. The mortgage payments worked out at £200 per month cheaper than their rent! They had both saved into Help to Buy ISA's. The landlord gave them a deadline to either buy or he was putting the apartment up For Sale. They were £5,000 short for the 20% (!!) deposit needed. We lent DD the £5,000 - all done legally through their solicitor with no date specified for the loan to be repaid. We never intended for the money to be paid back by DD insisted and pays us in small amounts as and when she can.

We helped DS with the deposit on his flat in Spitalfields, London, 13 years ago. He was, and is, still single and, working for a charity then, and now self-employed, would not have been able to afford to buy a flat otherwise. We had a very small mortgage on our own London house and re-mortgaged in order to give him this gift plus the same to our DD who was married and already had a flat in London. Both still live in their flats (although DS has lived back at home for some periods and let his flat). We had bought our own (5 bedroom!) house in London in our mid-20s in the early 1970s and, although it was a struggle as interest rates were high, and I was earning very little, we could do it. I don't think either of our children will be able to buy a house in London until, if we don't need to spend it on care, they receive an inheritance when we die. I feel so sorry for younger people paying such high rents in London with little prospect of ever being able to afford a place of their own, and even sorrier for those on low wages who don't even have the option of renting a cuncil house since so many have been sold (such a stupid policy!).

Unfortunately I am not in the financial position to help my relatives get onto the property ladder. I do think it's a good idea though.

Well, I was in the fortunate position of having an inheritance at the same time as my daughter had her first child and local property prices in New Zealand where she lived were very low compared with those in London where I lived. So I gave her a house for her 21st birthday. I actually sealed the deal on the day I was flying back to the UK and the house was mine within three or four weeks. By the time she sold the house, property prices had begun to soar so she did very well on the deal and now lives in a lovely house designed to the wishes of her husband and her. Serendipity!

When my daughter and her then fiance bought their house nine years ago my husband and I gave them the money for the deposit. They have been able to overpay their mortgage and are now mortgage free. They have just had their first baby so will be looking for a larger house in the next year or so. As they wish to stay in the same fairly expensive area it is our intention to help them with the purchase by gifting another sum of money. We would far rather they have the money now when they really need it than at some (hopefully) far distant time.

I have been unable to help my children to get on the housing ladder. It is something I would love to be able to do though.

We've helped two of our children with deposits - part gift and part loan. It made sense to us to do it as otherwise they could have stayed living with us for years.

I am not in a position to help my children sadly. We did have a mortgaged property when I was younger which we saved the deposit for. This was sold when we divorced many years later and not enough left then to buy another. I do though now think the whole system of buying is over rated unless you can buy outright. At the end of the day the bank/building society own your home until you have paid off your mortgage.

I gave my daughter some money from my savings to help with her first house. However, she had already saved up more than double what I gave her. I am a single parent since I divorced, and she is an only child and I'd rather help her now when she needs it than make her wait until I'm no longer around

We emptied our own savings to provide deposits for both of our DDs when they went to Uni. They both had mortgages with us as guarantors and funded the mortgage themselves via the 'rent' paid by their flatmates. We furnished and equipped the flats with the 'retro' furniture from the homes of their GP's who had recently died. Meanwhile DH worked on the flats, installing double glazing etc. and these were eventually sold at a huge profit which enabled them to buy family sized homes while they were pregnant with their first children. Their houses remain solely in their own names, although one is married and the other has a longstanding partner (father of the children). This pleases me as it ensures my DDs have security if there is ever a split -not that I am expecting this!

We helped both of them with the deposit on their first homes.

DS was stagnating in expensive, grotty rented accommodation. There was little left at the end of the month to save for a deposit so I used most of my inheritance to help him to buy. No regrets, he's so much happier and more settled now. He is paying me back but I won't expect him to pay it all. He is gradually improving it and stamping his mark. Best thing I did!

After my daughter was left as a single parent with three children she had very little left from the sale of her former home as ex son in law took most of the equity. I sold my house and we used the equity from that to pay the deposit and moving costs into a property big enough for me to have an annex. My daughter works hard and pays the mortgage, I run the house and do the school run with youngest GD.

I have helped both my Daughters at times , my eldest to move from a 1 x Bedroom Flat to a Victorian Semi with her Partner & Baby Daughter, The other with a contribution to the deposit on her first home with her Husband, would love to do more to help but live on a modest Pension and am unable to save with the cost of living as it is ! At least both Families , although struggling are in their own homes, a blessing in this day & age !

2 of my children are currently saving to buy their own homes, my daughter bought 7 years ago. I am hoping to be able to put a bit towards their deposits.