Using child savings

HiToAll

DBoy1 wrote: »

We can afford the house we are looking at, based on monthly income and outgoings... easily.

There are simply no suitable houses in our local area that would allow a deposit that we currently have. I am not going to buy an unsuitable house just for the sake of it, when in 2-3 months we would have the deposit required for the house that we want.
But will it still be there in 2-3 months... that's our dilemma.

but you cant afford it, you have admitted that by having to take money from your children.

[Deleted User]

Hi,

yes go for it, if you miss out on this house you will be saying 'if only', don't miss this chance.

You don't say what age your child is, doesn't sound as though he will be desperate to spend his savings.

Good thing as well is if you borrow from his account there is no urgency to pay back, get house sorted and then pay back gradually with a generous added bonus.

Good luck.

badmemory

By the time you exchange contracts you will probably have saved the extra money you need anyway & won't need his savings.

DBoy1

HiToAll...Like I said, we are still in 2 minds, so I do get where you are coming from. I wouldn't have come on here if I didn't have any doubts, so I do appreciate your input . I didn't expect a unanimous "go for it".
But we absolutely can afford it.
Just to give some added detail.
Combined income is just over £90k, monthly net is around £4600
AIP of £410k for 5% deposit. I didn't ask for £410k, that's just the maximum figure that they came back with.
House we are looking at is on the market for £265k. Mortgage repayments would be around £1200 per month.
We currently have £14k saved up, which is enough for deposit, but wouldn't cover extra costs.
The reason we don't have more deposit already is because we wanted to repay some debts first, which were settled 4 months ago. These were debts for job training costs.
Child is 6 by the way.
Thanks for all replies. I am going to wait for the savings statement to come in the post and make 100% sure that it isn't in my son's name, as it seems that would cause problems.

By the time you exchange contracts you will probably have saved the extra money you need anyway & won't need his savings.

That's what I'm hoping for... fingers crossed!

Andypandyboy

HiToAll wrote: »

I have wobbled my head, and still think the same.
They asked for input, I gave input, if they or you dont like it then not my concern.

Savings for children from parents are discretionary.

I have always saved for each of my kids monthly, but they were not all designated long term savings. That is, I often saved for events; school trips, holidays, cars etc, and took the money from that pot to fund the purchase. They were used throughout their childhoods and what was left when they reached adulthood was used towards a house deposit.

By your logic I should never have touched those pots once the DD had left my account. They had other personal accounts for monies received for birthdays, grandparents etc.

Kynthia

As far as I can tell this is your savings, probably one pot in a of number of accounts. This pot was earmarked for your child but didn't 'belong' to him. This is your money to use as you feel is best. I wouldn't feel the exactly the same if it was money gifted to your child from others or left to him in an inheritance. That money would belong to him.

tlc678910

I wouldn't give it a second thought - just use the money and replace it later. You will no doubt continue to save for your child if you had saved that much and they are only 6.

We have had to spend some (much smaller) savings we had saved for our son (also 6) when we were in a tight spot recently and had absorbed everything we possibly could but were struggling (several bigger and unexpected expenses coming together and we had already absorbed a lot).

We cashed his premium bonds (money which we had saved for him) and when we are able to will get a direct debit set up for £100 a month and replace it in less than a year. £100 of bonds bought for him by his nan were not cashed in.

Tlc