First-time buyers flock to the bank of mum and dad

When my sister had a little girl, my aunt told her: ‘You’re vulnerable for the rest of your life.’ She meant, of course, that my sister’s overwhelming love for her daughter would mean a lifetime of worry – as well as all the incredible new experiences that motherhood would bring.

She should have added financial vulnerability to that list. From pocket money to tooth fairy cash, childcare and education, children are expensive. According to the Centre for Economics and Business Research, the cost of raising a child to the age of 21 is £230,000, or more than the price of an average semi-detached house in Britain.

Many parents will know that the financial outlay doesn’t stop at 21. With a ‘broken’ housing market and recent research from the Office for National Statistics showing that a typical home now costs more than seven times income, getting on the housing ladder has never been more difficult. In fact, the affordability gap is now so pronounced that, in some areas, house prices versus income multiples have become obscene.