More first-time buyers than ever are using family money, exacerbating inequality, says Social Mobility CommissionThe number of first-time buyers relying on family loans from the “bank of mum and dad” to fund their deposits is exacerbating inequality and impeding social mobility, a government-backed study has warned. It found one in 10 first-time buyers used inherited wealth and that 12%, whether it was a first property or not, were using a “gift or loan”. “It is further embedding social immobility into the housing market,” said the Anglia Ruskin senior lecturer and University of Cambridge fellow. “The government has got to do more to help young first-time buyers who don’t have the bank of mum and dad behind them. It’s indefensible that help to buy is helping almost 25,000 people who are not first-time buyers.

Source: The Guardian March 26, 2017 22:52 UTC