Moral dilemma

sevenhills

canaldumidi 

So I would be inclined to repay the full £4200.

The loan allowed you to make many thousands, so a good 10% extra per year would be a nice thank you.

Schwarzwald

DoloresS said:

I bought this house with my ex partner. His mum helped us with some of the deposit £4200. After 1 year he left the relationship.  We weren't married so there were no assets to split and there was no equity in the house when he left. Last year I transferred the house in my name which cost about £1,200. 6 years on I have sold the house for almost double (I have spent about £10k on renovation) I want to repay the deposit to his mum, but should I pay all or half? 

You give all these absolute numbers: 4.2k, 1.2k, 10k … but the one that matters most in my view, how much capital gain you made on the house you left out. Why?

based on above, the right thing to me would be to repay her in full. I would probably not pay her more than the initial loan amount as that would only open up the discussion of how much top up would be correct. But assuming you made substantially more in cap gain than 4.2k, paying her back in full seems to be the right thing.

steampowered

You forgot the third option: That the mother is in fact owed £8,400.

The law presumes that money advanced to buy a property gives an interest in that property - unless there is evidence to the contrary. If the mum in fact owns a share of the equity, her share of the equity has doubled.

As you say this was given as a loan, I think paying £4,200 is fair. And in fact an excellent result for you as you will have got an interest free loan - that is worth less now than it was before, given inflation.

Black_Cat2

Nice of her to loan you the money when you needed it.  Time for you to repay her with maybe a little extra on top.  I believe in karma so everyone's a winner 🐱

pinkshoes

On the basis you wouldn't have been able to afford the house without her deposit, then I'd pay it back in full, along with a nice hamper as a thank you. 

Megaross

If she's loaned you £4200 then any decent person would repay her the full amount.

TripleH

I'm inclined to go with Pinkshoes.

The 'loan' could not have been treated as a formal loan on buying the house or an interest in the property (mortgage company wouldn't have been happy).

She may refuse or accept half but that is her choice. Either way you can walk away with a fresh start. Do say what the money is for though.