Is the Bank of Brother and Sister the new Bank of Mum and Dad?

Its research found that Scottish siblings have loaned a total of £616m to their brothers and sisters. Almost half (48%) have loaned up to £500 but almost one in ten (7%) have loaned over £10,000.

This compares to the £1.9bn loaned from parents, with 16% of parent lenders loaning over £10,000 to their children.

25% of parents are happy to help their children with the cost of buying a house, and almost a quarter of Scots (22%) have borrowed a substantial amount of money from their parents.

Interestingly, only 3% of Scots have borrowed a substantial amount of money from their grandparents. This could be because they feel embarrassed about making the request, as almost half of borrowers (47%) feel guilty about borrowing money from their family members.

Ricky Diggins, network director for Bank of Scotland, said: “With Scottish siblings loaning substantial amounts of money to their family, it’s encouraging that such a high percentage of borrowers expect to pay their family back.

“To avoid any potential tension, it can be helpful to agree at the time of receiving the money if it’s a gift or if and when the money should be paid back.”