A new survey has revealed that 49 per cent of parents in Britain whose children haven’t bought a home, fear that they will never do so without inheritance.

The research from Shelter has shown that many parents feel high house prices and a lack of affordable homes are leaving their children priced out. And the latest government figures suggest they are right to be concerned, with homeownership levels having collapsed among young adults in the last decade.

With the housing shortage making it much harder for young people to get a foot on the property ladder – our poll revealed that of those 25-34 year olds who have been able to buy, one in six of them relied on inheritance money from a relative, and nearly a third were gifted money for a deposit.

The findings follow another detailed report Shelter recently published in which it found that those locked out of homeownership have less stability in their finances and careers. Whilst many are also put off parenthood because they don’t have a stable home of their own.

Campbell Robb, chief executive of Shelter, said: “No parent wants to think the only way for their children to ever own a home of their own is through losing someone they love.

“It’s a tragic consequence of our housing shortage that, even when they are working hard and saving what they can, a generation of young adults have no choice but to rely on the prospect of inheritance to have any hope of buying their first home.

“The failure of successive governments to build anywhere near enough affordable homes is leaving millions of young adults facing a lifetime of uncertainty. Politicians should give back hope to the priced out generation by making a real and lasting commitment to building the affordable homes we desperately need.”