Where next

The ideal ‘forever home’ for a resident in the East Midlands is a four-bedroom, detached house in the country, worth £395,745 – and just down the road from the kids, it has emerged.

A detailed study also found that we hanker after a property with a driveway, a play room – and somewhere to hang the washing.

Other must-haves include a large kitchen and breakfast room, an ample lounge, utility room and dining room.

A double garage and conservatory are also essential, as is a study and cloakroom. Ideally, we want to live in a location just 9.2 miles from the office.

Good transport links and a pub within a mile and a half are also vital elements.

House prices are high, wage inflation is low and rents are amongst the most expensive in Europe. It’s no surprise that we are seeing an increasing number of parents helping their sons and daughters to buy their first home.

Boosting your child’s deposit is vital to helping them get a more affordable mortgage rate. Getting a mortgage with a 5% deposit is difficult and still relatively expensive even with 10%.

So what are your options when helping your children onto the property ladder?

Gifted Deposits

The most common way we see parents helping their children to buy is by simply giving their children money towards part/all of the deposit, this is called a ‘Gifted Deposit’.

Research the location

In a recent Daily Mail survey, 58% claimed the location of their new home is what made them fall in love with the property. Whilst location is consistently top on the list of home buyer priorities, that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t look around at other properties in similar or ‘less desirable’ areas in order to form an impression of what is available for your budget.

If you have an area chosen, do your research. Go visit at different times of the day/week, visit the surrounding areas, visit the local shops, try the local restaurants etc… areas may be quiet during the week but an active social hub during the weekends. You will be living there a long time, make sure the day to day works for you.

Buying a house is one of life’s biggest milestones, one which is usually very carefully considered. However, recent research1 has revealed that most of the nation’s property purchases are based on just a “feeling.”

A new survey of nearly 2000 British homeowners by leading house builder Redrow, has found that the main emotional reason behind our property purchases is “it had to feel right.”

Surprisingly, over a third (38%) make their decision with no influence from family or friends and only 10% say they wanted their mum and dad to like it.

However, old-fashioned and traditional family values do still stand, as over a quarter (26%) of Brits say they chose a house where they could imagine raising a family.