Bank of Mum & Dad inflates deposits for first-time mortgages to €52,000

In just six months, gifts from parents accounted for about €209m of the money spent on Irish properties — ultimately putting up the price of the very homes those young people are seeking to buy. 

Many first-time house buyers are being forced to turn to gifts from ‘the Bank of Mum and Dad’ to help make up the €52,000 deposit needed to secure a mortgage, according to new banking industry figures.

The size of the digouts — revealed for the first time by the Banking & Payments Federation Ireland (BPFI) — has led to warnings from experts that some of the additional billions saved by households during the Covid crisis are being gifted to family members, helping drive house prices higher.