First-time buyers find it difficult to get on the property ladder

Fed up with their offspring still at home in their twenties, parents are stumping up thousands of pounds to encourage them to move out.

Research for the Skipton Building Society showed that parents were prepared to pay an average of �8,000 to help them flee the nest - �5,000 to help them on to the property ladder and a further �3,000 for their upkeep.

And one in five parents said they were even willing to go into the red to help their children or were considering taking out a personal loan.

More than a third of adults still living at home said they enjoyed home comforts.

Rising house prices mean that many young children can't afford to leave the family home Jennifer Holloway Skipton Building Society

Nine out of 10 have their meals cooked and their clothes washed by their parents and only a third of parents ask for a contribution towards household bills.

However many admitted that high property prices left them with no other choice.

The survey of 530 parents with grown-up children showed that one in four had foregone their annual holiday so they could give money to their children to get on the property ladder.

Jennifer Holloway, Skipton spokeswoman, said: "There are a number of reasons why so many grown-up children are still living at home, including the fact that the parents may want them to stay.