Industry News
Britannia: parents should buy students homes
Posted on 17th August 2007
A major building society has suggested parents offset their offspring's university debts by buying them a house.
Britannia Building Society published a report which suggested the average student runs up debts of nearly £14,000 while the average property value rose by 10.9 per cent from 2006 to 2007.
This debt, it claimed, can take graduates 11 years to clear and prevent them from buying their own home.
Families who bought students a home could sell it and use the proceeds to pay off any debt, the building society suggested.
Group chief executive at Britannia Neville Richardson added: "This is a great way of giving your child a solid financial start in life and a safe place to live while at university."
However, Halifax Estate Agents recently published research suggesting property prices in university towns were rising at nearly double the national average.