One of the most challenging parts of buying a house is saving for a deposit. That’s why we accept gifted deposits as full or part contribution.

Who can gift the deposit?

• Any relative as defined by the Family Law Act 1996. Including step-parents, step-children, civil partner, former spouse, former civil partner, first cousins and a co-habiting partner.
• We may accept gifted deposits from outside the UK as long as evidence of a six-month savings trail can be provided, right up until the point the gift is received by the mortgage applicant.
• This applies to both Residential and Buy to Let purchases.

What don’t we accept?

• A gifted deposit from a person who is, or will be, a non-borrowing occupier of the property.
• A gifted deposit from a vendor (which isn’t the same as the discounted family sale/purchase we do accept).

What else do you need to know?

• Make sure the full details of the source of the deposit are provided on the mortgage application form.
• We’ll need a completed gifted deposit declaration form prior to completion, which will be sent to the acting solicitor, post-mortgage offer.
• If the donor wants their capital back when the property is sold then, whilst this is not a ‘gift’, provided they don’t require contractual payments or interest from the borrower, we will consider allowing this to proceed upon agreement of an appropriate second charge in favour of the donor.
• Our Joint Borrower Sole Proprietor mortgages can work alongside gifted deposits too.

Key information

• Gifted deposits need to be a gift, not a loan.
• There may be inheritance tax considerations.

Conveyancers will need to make their own checks on the origins of the deposit.

If you have any questions about our gifted deposits criteria, we recommend getting in touch using the methods below.