Gifted Deposit Query

WP20

Long story short...

Me and my fiancé are first time buyers. Put in an offer, accepted and have mortgage in principle with Halifax. Very long down the line now, property searches and homebuyers report all done, due to exchange this month with any luck - however, we've not been asked re source of deposit until recently by our solicitor. Bulk of deposit is made up of our own savings and ISA funds.

However, £6000 is being gifted from my Mum, and £7000 gifted from her partner (not my biological Dad). Her and her partner have been together for 7 years, living together for 4 years, he has paid off his mortgage and very stable in job security etc. Both of these source of funds are gifts and not loans, super generous of them obviously.

My solicitor has a gifted deposit letter and certified documents from my Mum, and is now going to approach Halifax re my Mum's partners involvement, and said if needs be, will get him to sign a gifted deposit letter in the same vein as my Mum. The nature of the partners involvement is that he has gifted the funds to my Mum to gift to us, or this is how he has termed things (he deposited it into my Mum's savings account so there was a transaction history and she has transferred the funds to us ready to be sent to the solicitor). Our solicitor seems to be sure this won't be an issue, and my broker indicated a while back when discussing with us that it shouldn't be due to the nature of my Mum's partners relationship with both me and my Mum - whilst not a step-father, he is for all intents and purposes this to me but not in the eyes of the law, if that makes sense?

I'm a huge worrier and suffer badly with anxiety and am afraid that because my Mum's partner isn't my step-father that this will fall outside of Halifax's guidelines with gifted deposits and disqualify us from getting the mortgage outright. Can anybody shed any light on similar experiences or advice? Would really help put my mind at ease. Thank you in advance.

Meh123

I wouldn’t overly worry, although I know saying that to a ‘worrier’ doesn’t help haha!!
The main thing with a gifted deposit is that its proved that it doesn’t need to be factored into affordability (a loan etc)  and that the person is taking no ownership of the property.
as it was paid into your mums account then they’ll probably just want her to sign the document for it all, and maybe a paper trail of where the money came from.

The main reason behind all these checks is just to make sure that no one is going to try and make a claim on the home and that the money is legally obtained. 

However, your solicitors really should have asked the source of your deposit right at the beginning of the process!

[Deleted User]

Halifax gifted deposit criteria is below.   Given the fact that some of the deposit will be coming from mums partner I suspect that this will be rejected by Halifax.   I had a similar case recently with a single applicant and the deposit coming from his partners parents.  Partner wasnt on the mortgage but they had been togther for 20years.  Halifax rejected it as they didnt count as parents in law.  I fel that this will be same as your case where this person doesnt count as step-parent and will fall in the 'family friend' category.

Also, on the above poster,  the solicitor wouldnt know at the start of the process that Halifax arent going to take it.  The solicitor isnt a mortgage broker, they just report the facts to the lender and let them respond.  If the broker chose the wrong lender then it isnt the solicitors fault

If any of the deposit is gifted, this should be chosen as the source of deposit when keying the application.

The definition of a family member is someone who is related to at least one of the applicants:

• by birth/blood relative (for example an Aunty has to be via blood and not marriage)
• by marriage or civil partnership (including step children, adopted children and in-laws)
• as 'Common Law' partners or co-habitees.

Acceptable	Not Acceptable
Parents, step parent, parents in laws	Family Friend
Brothers and sisters, half brothers and sisters, step brothers and sisters, brother and sister in laws	Employer
Grandparents, step grandparents	Developer/ Landlord
Auntie/Uncle (related by blood) Niece/ Nephew	Auntie/Uncle (related via marriage)
Partners living with applicant either common law or co-habitee	Cousins
Applicants’ children, step children, son and daughter in laws and adopted children	Foster/Guardian children

Meh123

Deleted_User said:

Halifax gifted deposit criteria is below.   Given the fact that some of the deposit will be coming from mums partner I suspect that this will be rejected by Halifax.   I had a similar case recently with a single applicant and the deposit coming from his partners parents.  Partner wasnt on the mortgage but they had been togther for 20years.  Halifax rejected it as they didnt count as parents in law.  I fel that this will be same as your case where this person doesnt count as step-parent and will fall in the 'family friend' category.

Also, on the above poster,  the solicitor wouldnt know at the start of the process that Halifax arent going to take it.  The solicitor isnt a mortgage broker, they just report the facts to the lender and let them respond.  If the broker chose the wrong lender then it isnt the solicitors fault

If any of the deposit is gifted, this should be chosen as the source of deposit when keying the application.

The definition of a family member is someone who is related to at least one of the applicants:

• by birth/blood relative (for example an Aunty has to be via blood and not marriage)
• by marriage or civil partnership (including step children, adopted children and in-laws)
• as 'Common Law' partners or co-habitees.

Acceptable	Not Acceptable
Parents, step parent, parents in laws	Family Friend
Brothers and sisters, half brothers and sisters, step brothers and sisters, brother and sister in laws	Employer
Grandparents, step grandparents	Developer/ Landlord
Auntie/Uncle (related by blood) Niece/ Nephew	Auntie/Uncle (related via marriage)
Partners living with applicant either common law or co-habitee	Cousins

Hi, I used to work in conveyancing....
Asking for the source of deposit isn’t for the purposes of making sure the lender will accept it, as you said that’s on the mortgage broker and I’m not blaming the sols for this situation....
The solicitors normally ask for proof of funds as standard at the beginning of the process to be compliant with money laundering regulations. To be at the stage of searches/home report being done but for them to have no idea of where the deposit funds have come from is somewhat risky. 

[Deleted User]

I misunderstood your point then.  I thought you meant to tell the client that Halifax wouldnt take the deposit.  

Meh123

Deleted_User said:

I misunderstood your point then.  I thought you meant to tell the client that Halifax wouldnt take the deposit.  

Haha no we were just hitting the question from different perspectives. It’s all good! 

I remember asking once why source of funds was so imperative when I was freshly qualified and starting my first job ....they told me the story of the ‘cash purchaser’....he said cash, they assumed he meant cash in the bank, they asked for proof and he arrived with £45k CASH in a bag!! .... obviously those were not acceptable funds!!