A gifted deposit is common and workable, but lenders want it clearly documented before they’ll count it as your deposit. The exact paperwork and whether any genuine savings are still required alongside it differs by lender.
What lenders generally want to see
- A signed gift statement confirming the funds are a genuine, non-repayable gift, not a disguised loan that creates an undisclosed debt
- Who is gifting the funds and their relationship to you, most policies are more comfortable with immediate family than an unrelated third party
- Confirmation the giver has no ongoing interest in the property, they’re not a hidden co-owner
- A paper trail showing the funds actually landing in your account, not just a promise they will before settlement
Where policies genuinely differ
Two things vary meaningfully across lenders:
Whether any genuine savings are still required. Some policies want to see a portion of the deposit built up from your own saved funds even when the rest is gifted, particularly above certain LVR thresholds. Others will accept a fully gifted deposit with no separate savings history, subject to the loan structure and LVR. This is a lender-policy question, not a universal rule, see our separate explainer on genuine savings for how that concept works.
How long the funds need to have “seasoned” in your account. Some lenders are comfortable with funds that arrived shortly before the application; others want to see the money sitting in your account for a minimum period first.
A worked example
Two clients each receive a $50,000 gift toward a $600,000 purchase. Client A has an additional $70,000 in savings built up over three years, most policies will treat this straightforwardly. Client B has no other savings and is relying on the gift plus a small recent balance, depending on the lender’s specific genuine-savings policy and the resulting LVR, this can either proceed normally, require a longer gift-seasoning period, or point toward a lender whose policy doesn’t require separate genuine savings at all. Same gift amount, different pathway.
What to prepare
- A gift letter from the giver (most lenders have their own template)
- Bank statements showing the gift transfer clearly, ideally weeks before you need it, not days
- A summary of any other savings you’re contributing, and how long you’ve held them
Next step: confirm your specific situation before the funds move, not after, talk with KartikKumar about which lender policy fits a gifted deposit of your size and timing.