THE Bank of Mum and Dad is busier than ever, with many young adults unable to leave home without it, says housing investor Legal & General.

Parents in the North West are putting up an average £23,100 to help their loved ones onto the property ladder, according to new figures revealed this week.

Legal & General says that after another year of rising prices and sluggish wage growth, home ownership is more out of reach for ever-more prospective buyers.

This year, parents, grandparents and friends will help out to the tune of £6.5 billion - a 30 per cent increase in the last year - to support 298,300 property purchases.

The new research suggests just over a quarter of home owners say they received help to buy. For people aged under 35, that figure approaches two thirds (62 per cent).

Around half of prospective first-time buyers (48 per cent) expect to get some help, and the Bank of Mum and Dad now rivals the UK's ninth biggest mortgage for the money given or loaned.

Although mortgage rates are at record lows, deposit requirements meant more than two thirds of buyers who received help (69 per cent) say they could not have afforded to buy without it.

The new report published by Legal & General and the Centre for Economics & Business Research also highlights the role the Bank of Mum and Dad plays in helping their children in the rental market.

It pays out an average £415 every time a rental payment is made, helping nine per cent of renters across the Uk with financial commitments to landlords on nearly 460,000 properties. This year alone, family members will fund rent payments worth £2.3 billion.

Dan Batterton, fund manager at LGIM Real Assets, said: "The lack of affordable housing, low wage growth relative to inflation and burdens of student debt mean that many kids can’t even rent somewhere without significant contributions from their family. Parents want to help their kids get on in life, and the Bank of Mum and Dad is a testament to their generosity, but it is also a symptom of our broken housing market."