Worried students are giving up traveling to save money for houses, claims Abbey…

Worn-out parents will be surprised, delighted and probably sceptical to find that their student children are apparently foregoing their carefree travel plans to save money to buy their first home.

Around 42% of students said they were already setting money aside towards buying their first home, said high street bank Abbey. That compares with more than double the 19% who are saving to go travelling when they graduate.

At the same time, one in 10 graduates who have taken a gap year during the past 10 years said they probably would not have made the same decision today given current property prices.

Only 7% of those who graduated during the past decade said they had started to save towards a housing deposit while they were still studying, a sixth of the current level. But one in five graduates said they could definitely have saved more money while they were at university and 17% said they wished they had worked harder.

Weighing up the benefits

"House prices have brought in a harsh new reality for students," said Abbey's Nici Audhlam-Gardiner. "They now need to weigh up the benefits of travelling against jumping straight into a career and being able to afford to get on to the property ladder."

The final word comes from an unscientific straw poll among our contacts with children of student age.

Those parents say they have yet to find evidence of a saving culture in their children - and most have not had the chance to ask them because they are currently on trips abroad!