Are you thinking of helping a family member buy their first home or have you already helped them? Share your experience - £200 voucher to be won.

Yes me and my husband have helped both of our daughter's by giving them them some money towards a mortgage, we haven't given them as much as we would like but enough to make a difference.

We gave my son £50000 to buy his first home part as deposit and the rest to renovate the property. More use to him at that time than when we are not here.

Yes we’ve helped our daughter. We bought her a house. So she would have a roof over her head & not have to worry about paying a mortgage if she lost her job.

We have had to help my daughter since she split with her partner and had to rent a house for herself and our 3 granddaughters, thankfully they live local to use so we also get to see them several times a week.

swifty999 I so agree, both our children were able to buy 'project' flats first time round because we had the skills and expertise to give major help with renovation.

In all honesty, I don't think it has to be just financial help that's important. With my children, each has been gifted money towards their wedding and when my son decided to retrain as an electrician, we bought him a van to help out.
More recently he's moved and we've given as much time as we can helping him with the move, donated furniture and helped decorate the house.
Money's great but some have more than others and time with, is I feel a gift that's never forgotten.

I am currently wanting to help my son to buy his first house with his girlfriend. Even with a good deposit there are hefty repayments over longer years!

The R4 programme 'You and Yours' devoted its call in programme yesterday to money loans between friends and family.

The key point that came out of it was, that for a loan to work and their to be minimum of recriminatons, the details of the loan, repayment schedule etc etc should all be written down and signed. It doesn't need a solicitor or anything like that, but the amount of the loan and repayment terms and schedule etc etc, need to be agreed, each memeber of the transaction should have a copy and all should sign all copies, plus, of course, being realistic about whether the borrower can manage the repayment schedule. Better to just give the money, than have constant rows about a repayment schedule that is unrealistic.

I am going to give my daughter a flat sometime later this year and I am very happy doing this.
I have talked talked to friends about their experiences and problems seem to have arisen when there has been an informal loan and repayment has not been sorted out and understood at the very start of the arrangement.

Yes, gave money both my daughters with the deposits for first house. Money was needed for second move due to unexpected circumstances and money was a loan, almost paid of now

There is no law that limits how much you can give your children to £3,000 a year, in fact you can give them £millions if you want to. The £3,000 refers to the sum you can give that will not be taken into account for Inheritance tax, should you die within 7 years.

I gave my daughter £10K towards her first home. It was given as an interest free loan but I'm sure I won't ask for it back. She is an only child and I'm a single mum. She had saved around £27K herself so has worked hard. She needed it now, not when I'm gone and I'm proud to be able to help her.

yes! We are saving up some money to help our nephew buy a house as he is struggling to save and we want to help as much as we can

Georgesgran

Although I’ve (legally) helped both DDs onto the property ladder years ago - surely you are then limited to giving away no more than £3k cash per year?

It’s been £3k a year for ages hasn’t it. Shame that limit doesn’t increase in line with every other expense.

Yes we helped our 2nd daughter with both a contribution and a further amount as an interest free loan which they're paying back monthly. They couldn't have bought a home without our help and the mortgage is £400 less than their previous monthly rent

My mother passed away when my children were 26 and 24. I decided to gift the money she had left me to my children. My daughter then used this money to put a deposit on a flat in London. The mortgage repayments were cheaper than the rent she had been paying!
My son has yet to buy a home but as he lives overseas he is biding his time to be sure of where he wants to buy but he has his deposit when he needs it.

When my son was looking to buy his first home I advised him what to do as he was let down with the first house he was going to buy. I told him to make sure he got legal representation and explained to look around the different banks for the best mortgage rates. He and his family are now settled in their first bought home and they are very happy.

Although I’ve (legally) helped both DDs onto the property ladder years ago - surely you are then limited to giving away no more than £3k cash per year?

I’ve recently moved in to a house with my daughter and son in law and gifted them enough for a deposit. It means I get to build an annexe in the garden by converting some outbuildings so they and I can have our own space.

We put down the deposit for a top floor tenement flat in Glasgow for our then 18 year old daughter when she went to Glasgow University. The mortgage was in her name, with us as guarantors. She quickly acquired a flat mate whose rent covered the mortgage, her Dad, over time, renovated the flat and when younger Daughter spent a year at college in Glasgow she lived there too. DD2 then moved to Newcastle for Uni and again we paid the deposit and her flat mate's rent covered the mortgage payments. When DD2 returned to Glasgow to work she lost money on the sale of her flat, but her sister, whose flat had soared in value, remortgaged and gave her sister enough for the deposit on a flat in Glasgow. A few years passed, both DDs had good jobs and partners, the Glasgow flats were sold at a big profit, which enabled them both to buy substantial homes, locally to us. DH and I had recently retired, so were in a perfect position to help renovate their new homes and to be on hand for child minding the 3 DGC who arrived over the next few years.

We did have a vague plan underpinning all this but were greatly helped by the rise in value of Glasgow tenement flats.

I really hope to help my son with a deposit to buy his first home.
The housing market has changed so much over the years, that it is difficult to see how any single person (or couple) earning an average wage could afford the deposit independently - particularly if they are in rented accommodation while they are trying to save for this!

I lent my daughter and son-in-law money to put down an initial deposit on their first home and then again as a top-up for their second home. Both times they have paid me back in full by increasing their mortgage after finding a better deal slightly further down the line. Everybody was happy that way.

We are contemplating buying a multi-generational house.

We gave a fairly large lump sum to DD towards her deposit so she could buy somewhere which would potentially make a nice family home with work rather than somewhere smaller just for now. The building society insisted it had to be a gift. We hope to help the other children in future.

All 3 of my children have been helped to buy their homes, there was a trust fund set up by what would have been their paternal great grandparents back in the 1960's long before the children were even born so that if there were great grandchildren then they would have money for education and homes. On top of that their grandparents and parents have added to the pot over the years and each of them have nice homes and are mortgage free at the ages of 32, 29, 26.