Can my parents take out a loan for my house deposit?

Can my parents take out a loan for my house deposit?

Yes they can, but taking out a loan to pay a mortgage deposit is not something lenders tend to encourage. If you, and your parents, want to go down this route there are some things you need to consider.

The cost of personal loans is high

Personal loans are available for amounts up to £25,000, but you have to remember that this is not cheap money.

If your parents were to borrow, say, £10,000 with an APR interest rate of 9.9%, and repay it over 3 years, the repayments would be around £320 a month and they would have to pay back £11,528, costing them £1,528 in interest.

Where did the money come from?

If your parents gift you the deposit (or part of it), or even if they hand you the money beforehand, the banks and other mortgage providers will want to know where the money came from.

Your financial records will include savings, and a sudden input of cash may ring alarm bells with the lender. This is because financial institutions in the UK are subject to strict anti-money laundering (AML) regulations.

You will have to explain where it came from, and most mortgage providers are notoriously reluctant to accept deposit money that has been borrowed. This is not to say there aren’t some lenders who will consider a cash contribution from your parents, even if it is from a personal loan, but there may not be many.

Other options are available.

As stated above, a personal loan is both expensive and comes with a whole set of problems you’ll need to overcome. But all is not lost, because there are some other options available to you.