Young people are forever chasing the dream of getting up the property ladder, but it turns out it is more of a StairMaster. You are perpetually sweating, buns burning, going absolutely nowhere. House prices have lapped wage growth so many times it's basically lapping itself.
Renting is eating alive an entire generation who are essentially paying someone else's mortgage while watching their own savings go nowhere fast. And the one lifeline that keeps the whole thing from completely collapsing? The misguided hope of inheritance. Someone else’s mortality means you can have a mortgage.
Waiting for an inheritance handout from parents or grandparents might seem opportunistic, but for many young people, it is their only hope
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Chloe thought she could finally step into the property market when her parents inherited big, but they had other plans
Chloe, 29, is renting a tiny flat in Bristol and very recently had a front row seat to an £800,000 inheritance landing directly in her parents' laps from her grandmother. Chloe had a thought. A reasonable one, she felt. She asked her parents if they would consider passing some of it down to help her with a deposit. Just enough to get her foot in a door that has been firmly shut her entire adult life.
Her parents said no. And not a reluctant, apologetic no. A no with a plan attached. They were buying a holiday home in France. They were going to enjoy their retirement. "My parents are already comfortable," Chloe wrote to Metro. "They own their home and have good pensions." Meanwhile, Chloe is in Bristol, watching the house prices soar, feeling completely betrayed.
Image credits: bearfotos / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Her parents decided to spend their inheritance on a holiday home in France instead of helping her put down a deposit on a home for herself
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She feels betrayed by their decision, seeing this as the only way she could own property in the current economy
Metro’s consumer champion, Sarah Davidson, responded with not exactly what Chloe was hoping for. Davidson was clear that while the frustration is completely understandable, Chloe needs to separate her emotional response from reality. Legally, the money belongs entirely to her parents. Her grandmother wrote a will and made a choice.
The harder pill to swallow is this: Davidson pointed out that Chloe's parents simply do not owe her a house. They raised her. She is a grown adult. The fact that a payday landed in their lives does not automatically mean a portion of it belongs to her deposit fund. Disappointed? Yes, absolutely. Frustrated? Completely valid. She says Chloe should remember that the money has not gone away for good.
Image credits: korrawinj / Magnific (not the actual photo)
Image credits: Julia M Cameron / Pexels (not the actual photo)
Experts sympathize with her situation, but they agree that legally she has no foot to stand on, and she should accept her fate with grace
Bored Panda spoke to Legal Consultant and Legal Translator Nicole Fenwick, who agrees that many people confuse emotional expectations with legal entitlement. “If Chloe’s gran left her £800,000 estate to Chloe’s parents, they are under no legal obligation to share it with their adult child unless a trust existed or Chloe has a valid inheritance claim.”
She also said that while first-time buyers may struggle to get onto the property ladder, testamentary freedom remains a cornerstone of estate planning in England and Wales. “Situations like this can feel morally difficult, particularly where informal promises were made, but courts generally uphold the final written wishes.”
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Nearly 80% of young people who own property received some kind of financial backing for their down payments, usually from parents
Image credits: Jonny Gios / Unsplash (not the actual photo)
According to Plumplot, the average house price in Bristol right now sits at around £376,000. A standard 10% deposit on that is £37,600. The average rent in Bristol runs somewhere between £1,700 and £2,300 a month. So, Chloe is currently spending up to £27,600 a year on rent, building zero equity, while simultaneously trying to save tens of thousands of pounds for a deposit. The maths is not mathing.
And Chloe is far from alone. Homeownership among people aged 19 to 29 had already collapsed to somewhere between 8 and 12% by 2021, and that was before interest rates climbed to where they are now. The idea of a young person buying a home independently, without any outside help, has gone from difficult to almost theoretical. The exception, if you will.
Which is exactly why the Bank of Mum and Dad has become so load-bearing. According to data from LendingTree, nearly 80% of Gen Z homeowners who did manage to get onto the ladder received help with their down payment. Less than half of all first-time buyers in 2024 bought without a substantial family contribution, according to Savills.
The harsh reality is that the property market, at this point, is not just a housing market. It is an inheritance market. And if your family doesn't have anything to pass down, you are essentially playing a different game entirely. So be nice to your grandparents, kids, you might need them sooner than you think!
Do you think Chloe is right to be disappointed, or should she suck it up and face reality? Share your thoughts in the comments!
Commenters flooded in with their opinions, mostly serving a harsh reality check to Chloe, reminding her that her parent had the full right to do as they pleased with the money
