Second time lucky? Apparently not.
It isn’t just first-time buyers who are faced with the struggle of moving up the property ladder. Second steppers are beginning to turn to the Bank of Mum and Dad for financial support, currently requiring on average, £25,000 to assist their second property investment.
According to Lloyds Bank, the number of second steppers who have to borrow from family and friends in order to progress in the property market has increased. This figure has risen from 27% in 2017 to 33% in the 2018 poll.
58% of second steppers expressed that making their next steps on the property ladder wouldn’t be plausibly without additional financial support.
Moreover, results from analysis revealed that 62% of second steppers would resort to remortgaging their property as a method of accumulating the extra cash, whilst 39% would use money from their savings accounts.
However, 22% would definitely require assistance from their parents and 13% would seek financial support from their grandparents. Alternatively, 6% would turn to friends for this support.
This is also adding an enormous amount of pressure on parents themselves, as they are forced to either raid their own savings or even downsize to a smaller property to release funds.
The sacrifices don’t stop there.
Second steppers are also making sacrifices. Almost three in ten agreed that they will have fewer children than originally planned due to the challenges they have experienced whilst attempting to climb the property ladder. More second steppers are delaying having children as a result of these circumstances.
Mortgage Products Director at Lloyds Bank claims: “Support from generous family and friends remains vital in helping second steppers in taking the next step on the property ladder, despite more second steppers now feeling optimistic about the housing market.
“We continue to see parents make big sacrifices as their children return for help with housing for a second time. However, to ease the burden on parents, we are seeing more second steppers plan ahead for their next big move by saving and paying more to their mortgage.”