The average age of a first home buyer in Australia keeps rising. One quiet reason: deposit gaps have outpaced wage growth for a decade, and the gap now often gets bridged with family money.
Lenders are generally fine with gifted deposits. What they want is clarity — evidence that the funds are a genuine, non-refundable gift and not a loan. A statutory declaration from the parent stating the gift is non-repayable is the standard requirement.
Gift amounts vary, but the median parental gift for a first home deposit is around $70,000 — enough to cover the gap between a 10% and 20% deposit on an average Australian home. Gifts are commonly tax-free for both giver and recipient, but pension means-tests can be affected for retired parents.
If you're receiving help, keep the paper trail tidy. Direct bank transfer, not cash. A single lump sum rather than drip transfers. And ensure the statutory declaration is signed well before the loan application — retroactively documenting a gift raises red flags in lender reviews.