Parents in London charge their children more rent than anywhere else in the UK, with an average monthly rate of £414.97, according to a survey of more than 2,000 people commissioned by Nationwide Building Society.
That figure is 2.2 times higher than the £187.08 charged on average by parents in Yorkshire and the Humber, where rents are the lowest in the country.
Rents charged by parents across the UK
The full list of average monthly rents charged by parents is: London £414.97; Northern Ireland £397.39; East of England £386.34; Wales £319.95; North East £268.73; South East £268.10; Scotland £260.56; South West £256.19; West Midlands £239.89; North West £230.25; East Midlands £211.40; and Yorkshire and the Humber £187.08.
The higher parental charges in London mirror the private rental market, where prices are also the most expensive in the UK.
Private rents in London
Latest Office for National Statistics (ONS) data shows London private rents rose by 2.2 per cent over the past year, reaching an average of £2,302 per month, up from £2,252 the previous year.
That is £843 more than the UK average monthly rent of £1,459.
Parents supporting children's homeownership
While some parents set rents shrewdly, more than half said they return some or all of the rent paid by their children to support their homeownership ambitions.
More than two-fifths of parents said they have waived rent payments for their child once in the past year, while more than half said they have let children off rent payments between two and six times in the past 12 months.
Carlo Pileggi, Nationwide’s head of mortgage products, said: “Behind many first-time buyer success stories are parents quietly helping along the way and it appears they are using new tactics to support their children.
“As saving for a home remains as challenging as ever, our research shows many of Britain’s parents are using rent payments as a way to help their children build a deposit, turning the family home and time spent living at home into a stepping stone towards homeownership.
“However, the findings also serve as a reminder that many aspiring first-time buyers do not have access to family support and continue to face significant challenges in saving for a deposit.”
