Parents now fund more than a quarter of house purchases as young people and first-time buyers struggle increasingly to get on the housing ladder.

The Bank of Mum and Dad has become the equivalent of the ninth-biggest mortgage lender in the UK, up from 10th place last year, making it bigger than Clydesdale Bank in the mortgage market.

Research by Legal & General and the Centre for Economics and Business Research consultancy found that the Bank of Mum and Dad will lend more than £6.5bn this year, up from £5bn, putting it a shade behind Yorkshire Building Society, which lent £6.6bn.