As it becomes more difficult for younger families to climb onto the property ladder, many are looking to their parents for help. According to varied reports, the resource their parents are tapping into to assist them with a mortgage deposit is their own savings and retirement funds. For many, they are taking on more debt or choosing to get cash release remortgages to fund their children’s and sometimes grandchildren’s efforts to become homeowners.

Interest rates are low for current borrowing needs, but house prices have risen and that makes it hard for first time buyers. Unfortunately, the supply of homes on the market has fallen as demand has increased. The competition between buyers is expected to increase as autumn weather comes to the UK and as warnings increase of a possible interest rate hike by the Bank of England.

Online property list sites have shown increased interest from first time buyers. This could be due to the factors pushing them to seek to get a mortgage before it gets harder than it already is. Interest rates could be rising simply from the increased costs to lenders for funding. Interest rate offerings could increase almost overnight with little to no warning. Also, houses prices are set to continue slowly rising and possibly hit a boost over the next few months.

Homeowners and home movers are keeping an eye on the possibility of lenders pulling their cheapest remortgage and mortgage deals. So, long before the Bank decides to make the first hike to the standard base interest rate since March 2009, borrowers could face increases anyway.

Meanwhile, pensioners are investing in their children’s futures in the hope that their savings can stretch tighter should they fail to pay them back when they need it, if at all. They are choosing to give up travels and other expectations of their senior years in exchange for helping their children become homeowners.