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Helping a family member buy their first home - your questions answered

(81 Posts)

GNHQ have commented on this thread. Read here.

LibbyGransnet (GNHQ) Mon 12-Jul-21 09:04:21

This Q&A is now complete - there will be no further answers posted.

Lending or gifting money to family doesn’t come without challenges - it’s a big commitment for both you and them. If you’re thinking of taking the step to help a loved one get onto the property ladder, and you have a question about how it might affect your future plans, this is your chance to ask the experts.

The experts:
Graham Sellar, Head of Mortgage Development, Santander - Graham has more than 30 years of experience working in financial services, and has been a mortgage specialist at Santander since 1996. He is regularly quoted as an expert voice in the media on all things mortgage related.

Hayley Burton, Financial Planning, Santander - Hayley has 25 years of experience in retail banking and 6 years’ experience in the wealth area, where she leads teams across the UK who provide expert, trusted investment and protection advice to customers based on their individual needs and to achieve their financial goals. Hayley is also a Mum and Step Mum to three children aged between 11-16, and so she’s regularly thinking of ways to help her children financially in the future.

Linda Murray, Regional Manager, Santander - Linda has worked in banking for 35 years across a broad spectrum of areas including mortgages, risk and most recently face to face banking in Santander branches. At work, she’s particularly passionate about supporting customers to help them make informed choices about their banking. Linda is also a single mum to her 24 year old daughter, Charlotte. She’s looking to support Charlotte financially and emotionally when she buys her first home.

Do you have questions around what to consider when deciding to help loved ones? Or perhaps you’d like to know more about what help you could provide (financial and non-financial)? And if you do help with a gift, loan or early inheritance, would it have an implication on your own future? The Santander experts are here to help and will be back to answer some of your questions between 26 July and 6 August.

All who post a question (regardless of whether it is answered or not) will be entered into a prize draw where one GNer will win a £200 voucher for the store of their choice (from a list).

Thanks and good luck!

GNHQ

Insight Terms and Conditions apply

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 15:15:16

Lisapaige24

I would like to know what I have to do about giving my daughter a deposit for her first home as she isn’t married to her partner my daughter has a child from a previous relationship but her partner doesn’t have any money to put in for the deposit how does she protect this money I am gifting her as if there relationship doesn’t last and they sell the house or she buys them out is the deposit taken into account in the the resale ?

@Lisapaige24

It's useful to make up an agreement with a solicitor when setting up the property contract and deeds.

Another thing to consider is having a will in place as this will allow you to be very clear what money, shares and other precious belongings goes to who.

If like me, you have two families coming together as one (blended family) things are very complicated and can be emotive. Therefore having someone skilled to help you with this is really quite essential.

You can find out more about the importance of making a will on our Step-up: Helping family to buy > The importance of making a will

Hayley

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 15:11:45

tanith

I’m Grandma to 9 Grandchildren it’s impossible to help them all and unfair to help one or two so I’m pretty much stuck not helping any of them to get on the property ladder. Which is a shame.

@tanith

It can be hard to help one of your loved ones let alone nine! Whilst you may not be able to help them all with the whole deposit, you may be able to help them with a part of it.

If your grandchildren are still a few years away from buying their own homes, you’ve still got time to open a cash ISA in your name and pay into it regularly or subscribe to an existing cash ISA that you hold up to the annual ISA limit. You can only pay into one of each type of ISA each tax year. Any money paid into an ISA must belong to the account owner. Taking advantage of tax-free saving over several years should get you into a good position to help. However, there are some tax rules around how much you can gift to another person. The Government website details these rules, but you may want to talk to a tax advisor to discuss your own situation. You can find a tax advisor at www.unbiased.co.uk

You can also look at a regular savings account which can pay a higher rate of interest if you put in a certain amount of money each month.

For more information take a look at Step-up: Helping family to buy > Family lending a hand

Hayley

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 15:09:37

Direne3

I'd love to gift a house deposit to each of our grand-children but when one has 9 it would be but a drop in the ocean,

@Direne3

Sometimes even a small amount can really help. You may be able to help out with some of the additional costs such as legal fees or search fees.

To see what kinds of costs you might be able to help with take a look at Step-up: Helping family to buy > Other ways to help

You may also be able to help them in other (non-financial) ways, such as helping them to decide what kind of home they're looking for or helping them navigate their way around the home buying journey.

Linda

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 15:07:58

Mollygo

We have offered to help my DGD with a deposit for a house. The problem is always how to give them money without problems.

@Mollygo

It's a great feeling to be able to help your loved ones with their homes, and I'm looking forward to helping my daughter with her home too. There are some things to think about to help you reduce any problems you may encounter. You may want to think about your financial future and the impact helping may have. You may also want to consider any tax and inheritance tax implications. Talk to an independent tax adviser or HMRC directly for further information.

For more things to think about take a look at Step-up: Helping family to buy > How might helping affect you?

If you need further assistance, you may find it useful to talk to an independent financial advisor. You can visit www.unbiased.co.uk to find an advisor.

Linda

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 15:06:39

FarNorth

I asked Santander about this very thing, and they were unable to help.

I found, elsewhere, that I could get a Lifetime Mortgage - which is different to equity release in that it requires the interest to be paid, so the amount owed does not increase.
Covid, however, altered my relative's plans so we did not go ahead.

Does Santander now offer, or plan to offer, Lifetime Mortgages?

@FarNorth

At the moment, Santander doesn’t offer lifetime mortgages for new customers.

Graham

SantanderExperts Mon 26-Jul-21 14:54:14

Hello - Graham, Hayley and Linda here! We're really pleased to be answering your questions this week. It can be really difficult to know where to start if you're thinking of helping a loved one buy their first home, so we've got lots of tips to help get you started.

msamaranth Fri 23-Jul-21 11:46:49

This is something we are planning shortly, eldest son has just gone through a marriage breakdown. Is there anyway we can say the money we gift him can only go to him or my grandson in the event of him forming a new relationship and wanting a joint mortgage again?

hopezibah Thu 22-Jul-21 23:38:33

Would love to know more about how to be able to help your children get on the property ladder in the most efficient way - i.e. is there a way to keep part ownership of a property but for the mortgage to mainly be the responsibility of the child (i.e, not an actual child but your grown up children). It's not something we've ever looked into before but as our son hits university age, we'd rather be putting money towards a home than just paying for rental accommodation for all those years if that is a possibility. Depends on many factors as to whether we could actually do it and where he ends up living as some areas the prices would be way to high to even contemplate this.

Cat1980uk Thu 22-Jul-21 18:47:51

I don't have the money to buy for myself let alone for others. If I had the money I definitely would buy for my son

shaddai88 Thu 22-Jul-21 13:38:21

I gifted my children a small lump sum of money each when they were purchasing a house as they needed help with them deposit. I did specify it was towards the house. I had to sign a declaration that the money was a gift from their Mortgage provider.

shanti Thu 22-Jul-21 12:40:23

I am keen to help with the deposit but would it be possible to set it up so when the house is sold I get my amount of the deposit back? This way it could then be available for another family member.

BravaJoseph Thu 22-Jul-21 11:53:49

What exactly is Inheritance Tax ?
How can the average 50+ pensioner navigate it legally ?

lollipop123 Thu 22-Jul-21 11:34:52

I’m not in a position where I need to help out just yet but I’m really worried about the best way to go about it when I do. I have 2 daughters who I would love to help out with their own properties but want to know the best way to do it that won’t mean I lose out to the tax man. Don’t understand how if I’ve paid my income tax already on the money I’ve worked so hard for, how I could be liable for being taxed again if I gift it to my children.

Yolostela Thu 22-Jul-21 10:01:18

We loaned money to our son for a few months as his girlfriends house hadn't sold. It was paid back as soon as they completed. We didn't charge interest.

Allsorts Thu 22-Jul-21 07:16:47

Ninny, with a joint account it is usually acceptable for either if the account holders to withdraw money, unless when you opened the account you stated it needed both. I made that mistake many years ago and was cleaned out left with children to raise. You can’t beat a High Street Bank, where the manager and staff know you and hear alarm bells, unfortunately we are all just numbers now.
I have helped mine financially.
If you gift money you risk them losing half if the relationship ends, but if you left it to them when you die, the same could happen,

cathryn1 Thu 22-Jul-21 07:01:31

looking at using some our equtity but want to safeguard our money in case they split up

marymod Thu 22-Jul-21 00:13:00

I'd love to gift my son some money for him to use as a deposit but would like to protect it in some way so that it remained his and could not be shared in the event of a relationship split.

Susiewusie100 Wed 21-Jul-21 22:04:21

Is it best to give the kids money before we are gone or leave it to them?

TM12 Wed 21-Jul-21 19:29:36

What happens if my husband and I give a financial gift of money from our joint account to our grandchildren for a deposit on a house and one of us dies before the 7 year cut off date for tax purposes?

RainbowChild Wed 21-Jul-21 09:28:35

It’s my understanding that if you gift a sizeable amount to a son or daughter etc but then pass away within 7 years of gifting it that they then would be liable for inheritance tax. Some sort of tax always seems to get you one way or another!

ems07957 Tue 20-Jul-21 23:03:55

What's the most I can give without incurring tax?

jeanio Tue 20-Jul-21 22:52:55

I would like to help my daughter to get on the property ladder by giving her a lump some as a deposit but I worry that she might not be able to keep up the mortgage payments as her job is not permanent at the moment.

J52 Tue 20-Jul-21 15:38:09

Lisapaige24

I would like to know what I have to do about giving my daughter a deposit for her first home as she isn’t married to her partner my daughter has a child from a previous relationship but her partner doesn’t have any money to put in for the deposit how does she protect this money I am gifting her as if there relationship doesn’t last and they sell the house or she buys them out is the deposit taken into account in the the resale ?

We did this for DS and took advice from a separate solicitor who was a property specialist. The couple buying the house had a Deed of Trust drawn up to protect their interests.
It was very comprehensive and included protection of monies put into the deposit, how any profit from a sale should be divided up, and what would happen if either party installed a new partner into the property.
I suggest if you are gifting a substantial amount a solicitor’s advice is sought.

gran1 Tue 20-Jul-21 14:49:50

I am thinking about giving or possibly lending money to my daughter to get on the property ladder by buying a small flat.
Having read through all the other contributors' comments, many of which are negative about Santander, I wonder what Santander offers in this area that is unique and why I should choose them to explain my best options?

Bevmichelle7 Tue 20-Jul-21 10:51:12

How can my daughters grandmother gift her a big lump sum, should gran put it into a savings account ie/. isa etc., for her or give her the cash towards abuying a house?