Parents donate cash to help buy homes

First-time buyers are increasingly having to depend on the support of their parents to get on the property ladder as the effects of the Central Bank’s mortgage lending rules begin to become clear.

Regulations introduced just over a year ago capped the amount prospective buyers could borrow to finance a new home, as well as linking the size of the mortgage to incomes. The rules were introduced to prevent another property bubble blowing up with potentially devastating consequences as happened during the Celtic Tiger but critics argue that thousands of first-time buyers are being locked out of the housing market.

Research now suggests that to be the case, with a huge spike in cash buyers evident and parents often stumping up much of the cost of a first home for their children. Homes bought with cash by first-time buyers rose from practically nil at the beginning of 2014 to 15% of purchases by the end of last year, according to research carried out by property agents Savills.