Millennials set to benefit from 'inheritance boom'

Millennials will reap the rewards of an "inheritance boom" fuelled by rising property prices, according to a new report.

Wealth accumulated by baby boomers will benefit future generations, the Resolution Foundation have said, predicting inheritances would double over the next 20 years.

But the think tank said inheritance was not a "silver bullet" to solving the housing crisis or addressing growing wealth gaps in society.

Almost two thirds of people aged 20 to 35 have parents who own property, which they might expect to get a share of in the future, said the report.

But the Foundation warned millennials who are not yet on the housing ladder are less likely to have property passed on to them. Those millennials who can expect an inheritance may not see it until they are in for several decades, with the Foundation estimating on average millennials won't inherit until they are 61.

Laura Gardiner, senior policy analyst at the Resolution Foundation, said: "Older generations have benefited hugely from the big increases in household wealth in Britain over recent decades.

"While the millennials have done far less well in accumulating their own assets, they are likely to benefit from an inheritance boom in the decades ahead.

"This is likely to be very welcome news for those millennials, including some from poorer backgrounds, who in the past would have been unlikely to receive bequests. They have the good fortune to benefit from the luck of the baby boomer generation."