Buying with a gifted deposit: the letter, the checks and our fee

Gifted deposit at a glance

What turns money from family into a gift, and not a loan?

Lenders usually treat money as a gift when all three are true:

• It is never paid back, not even when you sell.
• No interest is charged.
• The giver gets no share in the home and no say over it.

If any of those is not true, it is a loan or an investment. Some lenders still accept it. NatWest, for example, says on its own website that family may give a gift you repay, and it counts the repayments when it works out what you can borrow. Either way, your lender has to know. Signing a letter that says the money will never be paid back, when it will be, is a false statement to your lender. It can be a criminal offence (fraud by false representation).

If your family want the money back one day, or a share when you sell, tell your broker and us before any money moves. If the money will make the giver a part-owner, that is a joint-ownership question: who owns what when one person pays more.

Who will your lender accept as the giver?

There is no single rule. Each lender sets its own and changes it from time to time. Here is what four large lenders say on their own public pages, checked on 29 October 2026.

From each lender’s published pages, checked 29 October 2026. Lenders change these rules, so we confirm what applies when we receive your mortgage instructions. This is not a promise that a lender will lend.

We are on the conveyancing panels of HSBC UK, Nationwide, NatWest and Santander (checked 12 Oct 2026). Lenders can change their panels, so we confirm when you instruct.

Ask your broker or lender two things before anyone transfers money: will you accept a gift from this person, and what paperwork do you need from them?

What must a gifted deposit letter say?

Use your lender’s own form if it has one. If it accepts a letter, it usually needs:

• the giver’s full name, address and relationship to you
• the amount
• that it is a gift and will never be paid back
• that the giver will have no share in the home
• sometimes, that the giver will not live there
• a recent date and, usually, the giver’s signature (NatWest accepts a letter or email with no signature)

We do not offer a downloadable template. Each lender wants different wording, and a letter that suits one lender can be refused by another. Where the letter goes depends on the lender too. HSBC asks your solicitor to get it signed. With others, it goes in with your mortgage application. Your broker will know which.

What will we ask the giver for?

The money-laundering rules require us to check where money comes from when the risk calls for it. The SRA says a firm may need to check the identity of anyone who gives you money towards your purchase, and where their money came from. A gift is part of the money for your purchase, so the giver is part of the check. It is not a sign that anyone is suspected of anything.

The checklist at the top of this page builds the list for your giver: pick where the giver is, who they are, and where the money came from.

If we need to check the giver, the SRA gives these as examples of what a firm may ask for:

• photo ID, such as a passport, and proof of address, such as a recent utility bill
• bank statements for the account the gift comes from
• evidence of where the money came from (by source, below)
• the signed gift letter or form, if your lender wants one

Evidence by source of the money (a guide to the kinds of paper, not a fixed list; we may ask for more if the papers raise a question):

The rules do not set a number of months of statements. What we ask for depends on how the money was built up, and each paper should explain the last one. If something is unclear, we ask a follow-up question.

Your own savings are checked too. That is covered on our source of funds page, linked below.

What changes when the gift comes from abroad?

Our fee line is different: Gifted Deposit Check (from outside the UK). “The same check on a gift from abroad, with the extra source-of-funds work an overseas transfer needs.” The amount is in your written quote and on our fees page.

What is different:

• The transfer itself. Banks abroad may hold or question a large international payment, and currency exchange adds a step. Ask the giver’s bank how its process works and how long it takes. We cannot advise on another country’s banking, tax or currency rules.
• Lender rules. Lenders treat gifts from abroad differently: Nationwide wants its form and the giver’s bank statements, HSBC accepts money only from countries it lists, Santander may run extra checks (see the table above).
• Papers. Expect to send the same kinds of evidence as a UK giver, from the overseas bank and authorities. Send them early.

How we assess risk. The law requires extra checks in higher-risk cases. One of these is where a party to the deal is established in a country on the Financial Action Task Force’s list of “high-risk jurisdictions subject to a call for action”. We look at where the money is held and where it is sent from, never at anyone’s nationality, and we assess each case on its facts. The FATF publishes the list; it is the list UK money-laundering law has used since 30 June 2026.

If you also need help with a UK visa, our immigration team is part of the same firm. If you are the one buying from abroad, see our page on buying a UK home while living overseas.

The checks are the same in England and Wales.

When should the gift money reach us?

Money for the deposit must reach us at least 1 working day before exchange, and the balance at least 1 working day before completion. When we check the giver, we cannot use the gift until the checks are done, so the giver’s papers need to come early.

What helps the checks finish before exchange:

1. Tell us on day one who is giving and how much (your quote already asks).
2. Get your lender’s answer on the giver before you apply.
3. The giver sends ID and statements as soon as we ask, not when the money moves.
4. Don’t change the giver or where the money comes from after your mortgage offer. If it has to change, tell us and your broker straight away: the lender may need to approve it again.

You have a named contact throughout. Our usual timescales are on the main buying page.

What does a gift add to our fee?

Your quote asks “Is any of your deposit a gift?” (No / Yes, from the UK / Yes, from outside the UK). Each yes adds one line to your quote:

What each line covers:

• Gifted Deposit Check: “Checking where a gifted deposit comes from, and that the giver understands it is a gift, as your lender requires.”
• Gifted Deposit Check (from outside the UK): “The same check on a gift from abroad, with the extra source-of-funds work an overseas transfer needs.”

The amounts are on our fees page. Our buying fee range is in the box below. Stamp Duty and the HM Land Registry fee are government charges, never added to our fees. We give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

If insurance is relevant to your purchase, your case handler will tell you.

Should the giver go on the deeds?

Some families put a parent on the deeds to protect their money. It can cost a lot of tax, and it means the money is no longer a gift.

Why (England): first-time buyer relief applies only if every buyer is a first-time buyer and every buyer intends to live there as their only or main home. So a parent who has never owned a home, but will not live there, still ends the relief. The higher rates apply to the whole price if any buyer will own another residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world. There is an exception if that buyer is replacing their main home: they have sold or given away their last main home on or before the day they buy, and this will be their main home. Ask us if that applies. Work out your own figure with our first-time buyer Stamp Duty calculator, linked below.

Wales differs: there is no first-time buyer relief in Wales. A parent on the deeds changes the tax only if they own another residential property worth £40,000 or more anywhere in the world and are not replacing their main home. Land Transaction Tax is paid to the Welsh Revenue Authority.

If a parent wants a share in return for their money, that is co-ownership, not a gift. Speak to us before you apply. We are not tax or financial advisers: for the tax on a parent joining the deeds, speak to a tax adviser.

What if the giver will live with you?

Lenders want to know that no one living in the home can stop them selling it if the loan is not repaid. So they may ask every adult who will live there, but is not on the mortgage, to sign a consent. HSBC’s form, for example, is signed by each occupier aged 17 or over at completion. By signing, they put any rights they have behind the lender’s, and HSBC strongly recommends they take independent legal advice first.

This matters when a parent gives money and plans to move in. Some lenders limit gifts from someone who will live there: HSBC accepts them only from family, and Santander’s own guide says the giver must not live there. Tell your broker before you apply, and make sure the giver understands what they sign.

If the giver will live in the home their gift helped buy, there can be an income tax charge for them (the pre-owned assets rules). It does not apply if the money was an outright gift made at least 7 years before they move in. Ask a tax adviser.

Is there tax for the person giving?

For the giver, the tax to know about is Inheritance Tax. A gift of money is not taxed when it is made. If the giver lives 7 years after it, there is no Inheritance Tax on it. If they die sooner, it counts towards their estate. Gifts in those 7 years use up the tax-free threshold first. Tax falls on the gift itself only if they add up to more than the threshold; otherwise the rest of the estate may pay more.

Source: GOV.UK, Inheritance Tax: gifts, checked 29 Oct 2026.

Some gifts never count: the annual exemption each tax year per giver (last year’s unused amount can be carried forward one year only); a wedding or civil partnership gift from a parent, up to a limit; regular gifts from income the giver can afford. GOV.UK gives the current amounts.

If the giver sells shares outside an ISA, or a property that is not their home, to raise the money, they may owe Capital Gains Tax on that sale.

Giver based abroad: for gifts made from 6 April 2025, a giver who has been UK tax resident in fewer than 10 of the previous 20 tax years usually pays Inheritance Tax only on UK assets. People who left the UK recently can still count as long-term UK residents for Inheritance Tax for up to 10 tax years. Ask a tax adviser where the giver lives. We are not tax or financial advisers: for the giver’s own tax, speak to a tax adviser.

Inheritance Tax and Capital Gains Tax are UK taxes, the same in Wales.

Which gift problems hold up a purchase?

• The lender refuses the giver (an aunt, say) after the application is in. Get the lender’s answer on the giver before you apply; see the lender table above.
• The giver is asked for more statements than expected. We tell you at the start what we need and why: the law asks us to trace the money, and each paper should answer the last question.
• Each overseas document leads to another request. The giver sends the full list from the checklist at the start.
• The overseas bank holds the transfer just before completion. Ask the giver’s bank about its process early; the deposit must reach us at least 1 working day before exchange.
• The giver or the source changes after the mortgage offer. Tell us and your broker at once; the lender may need to approve it again.

Other gifted deposit questions

The gift arrived months ago. Do I still have to mention it? Yes. Your lender asks where your deposit came from, and so do we. Lenders differ on older gifts: Nationwide, for example, tells brokers to treat a gift received more than 12 months ago as savings. Ask your broker how your lender treats yours.

Can a friend give me a deposit? It depends on your lender. Santander and NatWest say they accept gifts from friends; HSBC accepts family only. Check before the money moves.

Can my parents get their money back when I sell? Not if it is a gift. If they expect it back, it is a loan, and your lender must be told.

What happens next

• Source of funds: what we ask you to show
• Conveyancing for first-time buyers
• Buying a house: how it works
• More buyer situations, explained