At a time when parents should be enjoying a golden retirement, thousands are raiding their savings and having to contribute to their childrens mortgage.
By buying jointly, parents can help their children onto the housing ladder by boosting their affordability and enabling them to buy a home that would have otherwise been out of reach.
Both the parents and the child are named on the mortgage deed, and the lender bases its decision as to how much it will lend on the combined income of all the applicants.
Philip Davies, Chief Executive of Linden Homes, said: Buying jointly with parents is becoming increasingly popular as children struggle more and more to fund their own first home purchases.
Gifted deposits have been a common solution in the past, but as property prices rise even further out of reach of starting salaries, bridging the affordability gap becomes a bigger problem, especially in London and the South East.
Bradford & Bingleys third annual First-time buyer Report revealed that 50 per cent of parents helping their children will give them the deposit for their first home, nearly double the number who were giving, or lending, their children a deposit one year ago.
But, with one in ten first-time buyers taking on a second job to make buying that first home possible, most parents have no choice but to lend a helping hand.
A joint purchase requires a much greater commitment on behalf of the parents, but they are likely to have more input into the choice of property and closer control over decisions made concerning their investment than if they had simply gifted a deposit.
Duncan Powell, Bradford & Bingleys mortgage development manager, said: The message we are getting from our Reports findings is that many first-time buyers are prepared to compromise, work hard to save for a deposit and look to their families for extra help if needs be.
As house prices continue to rise, families are having to help more to get the next generation on the property ladder.
The First-time buyer report also showed that parents are not only helping with deposit, with nine per cent paying the other costs, including stamp duty, legal fees and surveys.
But the generosity doesnt stop there, with a further 14 per cent of parents providing furniture for their childs first home.
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