The rise of the 'Mumlord and Dadlord': how parents are helping first time buyers save

Parents are turning rent into future deposits

Parents are charging their adult children, living at home, an average of £303 per month in rent – equivalent to more than £3,600 a year.

The amount of rent paid varies considerably across the country, with parents in Greater London charging an average of £415 a month (£4,980 a year), compared with just £187 a month (£2,244 a year) in Yorkshire and The Humber and £211 in the East Midlands (£2,532 a year)².

Our poll of more than 2,000 UK parents, with adult children living at home and paying rent, found that:

• 54% of parents return some or all of the rent paid by their children³ to support their homeownership ambitions, effectively turning rent into a savings mechanism for a deposit.
• 34% of adult children remain at home specifically to build savings for a future house purchase.
• 45% of parents have waived rent payments for their child once in the past year.
• 52% say they’ve let children off rent payments between two and six times in the last year, reflecting the balancing act families face between managing household costs and supporting their children's long-term financial goals.

While the journey to homeownership is taking longer for many aspiring first time buyers, the family home is becoming an important stepping stone towards that goal. 82% of parents⁴ say that rising housing costs are making it more likely that their adult children will continue living under the family roof for longer, while 40% say their adult child remains at home because they cannot yet afford to move out.

The rise of the ‘Mumlord and Dadlord’

Our research suggests that the traditional parent-child relationship is evolving as adult children spend longer living at home, with 45% of parents⁵ saying they feel like a landlord to their own child⁶.

More than six in 10 parents⁷ (61%) have increased the rent they charge their adult child. The London versus Yorkshire dynamic also continues when it comes to increasing the rent, with three quarters (75%) of Greater London parents saying they’ve done so, compared to less than half (46%) of parents in Yorkshire and The Humber (see Notes to Editor for regional breakdown)⁸.

21% of parents admit to already having a formal arrangement in place, with a further 14% saying they would consider it. Greater London parents are most likely to have a formal agreement in place (47%), followed by those in the East of England (27%). Parents in Yorkshire and The Humber and East Midlands are least likely to have one, with only five per cent (Yorkshire and The Humber) and six per cent (East Midlands) saying they have a formal arrangement in place (see Notes to Editor for regional breakdown)9.

The arrangement is not always straightforward. Half of parents⁷ (50%) say financial arrangements with their adult child have caused tension or disagreements, underlining the challenges many families face as children remain at home for longer. Those tensions and disagreements are most likely to occur in Greater London households (70%) compared to just 27% in households in Yorkshire and The Humber.

How we can support first time buyer clients

We offer a range of products and support designed to help first time buyers onto the property ladder, including low-deposit mortgages, £500 cashback and Helping Hand, which may allow eligible clients to borrow up to 33% more (up to six times their income). Visit our first time buyer hub to explore why your clients should consider Nationwide for their first mortgage.