Links Property Finance · Home loans for first home buyers: What Counts as Genuine Savings?

With many lenders, yes. A documented history of on-time rent, commonly six to twelve months through a licensed agent, can substitute for the savings pattern. Private rentals are harder to evidence but not always impossible. Policies differ, which is precisely where lender selection matters.

Not as genuine savings at first: a gift is usable money, and once it has sat in your account for the qualifying period, commonly about three months, many lenders treat it as seasoned.

Some lenders accept gifts with rent history alongside; some waive the requirement at lower loan-to-value ratios. The gift letter and paper trail matter either way, our gifted deposit guide covers the evidence.

Similar treatment to a gift at most lenders: yours, clearly documented through the estate, and generally counted as genuine savings once held for the qualifying period. Where settlement timing is tight, lender selection or a period of seasoning usually solves it.

Mostly on higher loan-to-value lending, commonly above 90%, and policies differ on the exact line. Larger deposits, guarantor support and some scheme pathways can take the requirement off the table entirely, which is one of the quiet advantages of the structures covered in our low deposit guide.

Typically three to six months of statements for the accounts holding the deposit, a rental ledger where rent history is being used, signed gift letters for family money, and estate documentation for inheritances. The full list for your situation is in our document centre.