I want to help my child buy a flat.

sevenstiles

My child lives in London and I'd like to help him buy a flat. I'm in my 60s. I wanted to be a shared owner with him but can't see how to do this. Is my only option to gift him a large deposit and relinquish any ownership of the property. He would need at least a 30 yr mortgage. Would a mortgage provider refuse to have me as a part owner. Any suggestions. i could gift the money but it goes against the grain. I had hoped to see it as an investment even though I had no plans to capitolise on it.

Mr_Thrifty

Why do you call your adult son "my child"? A most unusual choice of language indeed.

Your message is really quite puzzling.

Why not just buy the new place as tenants in common (I think that's the right term) so that you each have a specific share of it?

BitterAndTwisted

How much has your offspring managed to save towards the deposit themselves?

Mojisola

As you're in your 60s, you need to ensure your own financial future is safe. If you invest money that you might need to live on, you could find yourself short of money and unable to claim benefits because you are the part owner of another property. Would you really be able to force your son to sell his house so that you could release your capital?

hazyjo

All sounds a bit contradictory. You say you'd want to part own it, but wouldn't want to capitalise on any investment. So why not just gift some money? Why does it go against the grain? I don't get that.

Will your son stay in London? Can he afford to be a homeowner - and pay things like service charge/maintenance and ground rent that come with owning a flat? What if he chooses to sell up and rent in say 5 years' time, or travel the world? What if the flat is in negative equity? What if he moves in some GF you don't approve of? Would you feel you had some say in the property? How much does he earn - ie roughly what size mortgage could he get? As above, what deposit/savings does he have? If none, alarm bells would be ringing with regard to affordability.

Property isn't much of an investment at the moment - unless you're buying for the long term.

What's he currently doing? Renting?

Jx

sevenstiles

He's likely to stay in London and is paying a v high rent at present. With my help he could be on the property ladder for a similar cost ( inc. all the add ons).
I'll check on tenants in common but if I put in cash and he was after a mortgage would the mortgage lender be happy with that. I could only get a mortgage over 15 years, so that wouldn't be a runner for him if we wanted a joint arrangement.
Thanks for the replies - first one made me laugh.