Support from the Bank of Mum and Dad to help young people move up the property ladder will be part of more than a quarter of all property transactions in 2017, a new report says.
More than £6.5 billion will be lent by the parents in 2017 - up from £5 billion the previous year - the research from FTSE 100 financial services group Legal & General and economics consultancy Cebr suggests.
They estimate that Millennials are the biggest recipients of the cash, with 79% of the funding going to people under the age of 30.
The funds will go towards deposits for more than 298,000 mortgages, and helping others to purchase homes worth £75 billion, according to the report.
The findings put the Bank of Mum and Dad on a par with the ninth largest mortgage lender in the UK and will be involved in 26% of all property transactions that take place in the UK market this year.
Legal & General chief executive Nigel Wilson said: "The Bank of Mum and Dad continues to grow in importance in helping young people take their early steps on to the housing ladder.
"The inter-generational inequality that creates the demand for Bank of Mum and Dad funding continues to widen - younger people today don't have the same opportunities that the Baby-Boomers had, including affordable housing, defined benefit pensions and free university education.
"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."
He said the UK was experiencing a "supply-side crisis" in housing, adding: "We need to build more homes for the young, old and families alike - more quickly and cost effectively."