How Generation X will stop boomerang children returning This is unsettling for the typical student facing a daunting level of debt. The average student who started university last year will graduate owing between £40,000 and £50,000. But the elephant in the room is, well, the cost of rooms. House prices wobbled in the crisis but are firmly back on the rise, pumped up with government support in various guises. The shortage of housing feeds the problem. And the reasons for that are multiple. Common sense suggests that the increasing size of the population due to immigration contributes to the problem. Some, including the free-market-loving Economist recently, argue that the foundations of the property market were destabilised when council house building was killed off in the Eighties, which meant the number of homes being built took its biggest ever fall. Planning restrictions, among the tightest in the world, were never reformed and the private sector was unable even to come close to making up the shortfall. In the late Seventies, more than 300,000 homes were being built each year. By 1982, the number had fallen to fewer than 200,000. Today it is 107,000, against estimated demand of 240,000. Whatever the reason, we are where we are - and it's pretty grim. The charity Shelter says it takes the average couple six years to save for a deposit. For singletons, the wait is 11 years, or an almost hypothetical 30 years if you live and want to buy in Britain's cramped capital. This is a daunting prospect for young people. For my part, the prospect of my children for company in 20 years" time is something to celebrate. They, I suspect, will feel differently. How do I help them avoid that future? For the parents of today's boomerang generation, releasing money from their homes is increasingly the answer, through equity release or remortgaging (the wisdom of this is explored in depth in tomorrow's Sunday Telegraph Money section). But the Generation X which followed the postwar baby boomers is already more excluded from the property market. Mortgages are far bigger compared with earnings, with the debt taking far longer to clear. Many in their 40s today won't clear their mortgage until their mid-60s or later. Part of the solution is to begin the saving habit early for tomorrow's would-be boomerangers. Efforts by the previous government to achieve this should be recognised. Gordon Brown made many mistakes but creating child trust funds when chancellor was one of his more inspired moments. Around six million children have the plans. Most, admittedly, have only the £250 contribution from the Government. But many have invested more. I, for one, have used them to demonstrate to my children the worth of regular saving, how stock markets work and the miracle of compounding (OK, that last one was a struggle). Some don't like the plans, and the more recent Junior Isas, because the money is locked away and then handed to a son or daughter at age 18. Being out of the reaches of parents who may "need" that new extension or gleaming BMW is no bad thing and, as for handing over large sums so early, a reminder that the money offers an escape route from the family home should improve the chances that it won't be squandered. Parents who really want to look ahead might consider that a self-invested personal pension can be established for a child, and the Government will automatically boost contributions with a 20pc tax break. A £4,000 investment now for a 15-year-old could grow to £44,000 in 40 years, when they should be able to claim it, at least under existing rules. It won't help buy a house in their 20s but would give some future financial certainty. For most the answer lies not in the stock market or savings plans that are at the whim of government rule changes but in bricks and mortar. Even during my university days, the prevalence of landlord students was rapidly increasing. Parents began to wise up to the opportunity to be gained from buying a house to rent to students, providing a "free" room to their own. The capital growth on top has been an incredible bonus. Student lets aside, the popularity of buy-to-let is flourishing. Property, albeit overpriced on most measures, still offers decent income of around 6pc and incredible tax breaks (your costs can all be offset against your tax bill), and it feels solid - a quality that resonates with so many. On top of all that, the Government is backing the property market, so far pushing it higher with the Funding for Lending Scheme, which pushed down mortgage rates last year, and this year with its Help to Buy plan. The only short-term concern is the threat of a rise in the Bank Rate. The reality, however, is that while Britain's economy looks strong, it is based on more borrowing. Consumers, and therefore banks, would not be able to cope with a rate rise - so it's highly unlikely to happen. That is why, despite houses being overvalued, parents concerned about how their children will buy a house tomorrow are buying one for them today.