PARENTS lent almost one-third more money to their children in 2016 compared with the previous year, according to a new survey.
The “bank of mum and dad” forked out an average of £3,987 to help their offspring, rising from £3,080 the previous year, the Bank of Scotland found.
Research also showed a rise in offspring aged between 18 and 24 taking a loan from their parents from one-quarter in 2015 to more than one-third last year.
The analysis also found Glaswegians were most likely to borrow money from their parents than offspring in any other region, followed by Aberdeen, north-east Scotland and the Lothians.
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Rachel Bright, head of customer and change at Bank of Scotland, said: “It’s interesting to see the shift in size of loan being given to children by bank of mum and dad over the year.
“Fewer parents are lending smaller amounts of up to £1,000, yet more are now providing quite substantial loans to children of £3,000
or more.
“It’s very possible that this is parents helping their children with education costs or getting on the property ladder.”
The number of parents lending more than £10,000 increased by almost one-quarter, but only those aged 45 and over lent such high amounts.
The research also found that half of those quizzed felt guilty about borrowing from their family, up from 44 per cent last year, while those aged between 45 and 54 felt the most guilty.
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Only one-third of Scots said they expect to have to pay the money back to the family member, which is 15 per cent down on the previous year.
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