It can be possible, but it’s specialist and lender appetite is limited.
In most cases, a mainstream residential lender will want the people named on the title deeds (the legal owners) to be the same people who take the mortgage, because that’s how they secure a clean first charge. Where a property is held by trustees, the trustees are usually treated as the “borrowers” in legal terms, so the trust deed and trustee structure matter a lot.
Why lenders are cautious
This isn’t about your daughter’s circumstances as such. It’s the legal mechanics.
Lenders typically want confidence that:
- the trust deed explicitly allows borrowing and granting a charge
- the right people can sign (and remain authorised) over the life of the mortgage
- their first charge is enforceable without ambiguity if anything goes wrong
Because of that, lenders are often reluctant where ownership is split between a trust and individuals, or where the “real” owners are beneficiaries rather than the legal owners.
The ‘gradual transfer’ point
In practice, “passing more ownership over time” usually means a series of legal transfers.
Each transfer can trigger fresh conveyancing, lender consent, and potentially a rework of the mortgage arrangements. It can also create stamp duty and tax complexity depending on the trust type and how the transfer is structured. For example, where trustees are treated as purchasers, first-time buyer relief may not apply in the way people expect.
Often, a simpler route works better
Where the goal is to help them buy and keep lender options broad, families often end up choosing one of these routes instead:
1) Buy in their own names, with family help
A straightforward purchase in the couple’s names, supported by a gifted deposit (or a documented family loan), is usually much easier to place with lenders.
2) Joint Borrower, Sole Proprietor (JBSP)
This can allow family to support affordability while the property is owned by the couple (or one of them), keeping the title clean. A number of lenders offer JBSP-style arrangements.
3) Concessionary purchase / family sale below market value
Sometimes the cleanest structure is a sale at an agreed value, with the discount treated as the “deposit” (subject to lender criteria and solicitor advice).
Trust and tax considerations
Separately, gifting a property into a trust can have inheritance tax and ongoing trust-charge implications depending on the type of trust and values involved, so you’ll want a solicitor/tax adviser who does this routinely.
Next steps
If you want to explore the trust route, start with a specialist trust solicitor to confirm what the trust can legally do and how the title would be held.
In parallel, it’s worth speaking to a broker early. With setups like this, the value is in quickly stress-testing the structure with the right lenders and avoiding a lot of legal spend on an approach that ends up being unmortgageable in practice.
Please call 023 8235 2300 once armed with this information and we will be able to take your details and start contacting lenders to see who, if anyone, would be willing to lend.
