For as long as my adult working life has existed, I’ve squirrelled away every spare bit of cash I’ve found myself with, desperately chucking it into a LISA (previously Help To Buy) in the hopes that one day its contents would be enough to stop the cycle of me lining a landlord’s pockets.

I’ve said no to holidays, hen dos, expensive purchases – I even moved out of London back to my home city of Edinburgh in the pursuit of cheaper rent when I graduated eight years ago (RIP student loan, how I miss thee).

And finally, I’m there. I’ve started viewing flats that by all logic are well within my affordability. I’ve even started putting offers in.

But time and time again, I’m outbid by 20k, 30k, 50k over the home report. Not by fellow buyers though – by their parents.

Yup – truly there is no exhaustion quite as frustrating as trying to buy a flat when you’re from a working class background, completely self-funded, and in my case, trying to purchase solo. My biggest competition isn’t other buyers, it’s the people behind them funnelling cash into their deposits and bank accounts for over the asking price cash offers. The last flat I went for I was outbid by 30k… by a 21-year-old.

Don’t just take my word for it. According to estate agency Savills latest analysis on first time buyers, the bank of mum and dad forked out an eye-watering £9.6 billion in gifts and loans last year.

173,500 first-time buyers received assistance last year, receiving on average £55,572 – equating........

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