What does genuine savings mean?

Genuine savings is a term used by the lending industry when defining whether the funds to be used as a deposit by a proposed borrower (for a property purchase) have been genuinely saved over time. Most of the lenders may ask for a minimum 3 months of bank statements to see how you have saved the funds over time.

Non genuine savings could be defined as any funds available to assist a proposed borrower with a purchase of a property that are not deemed to be genuine savings ie. Funds after sale of an asset ie. a car, an inheritance or a gift from parent being used as part of the deposit. Makes sense really but the tricky part is many lenders and the mortgage insurers disagree on what is and what isn't genuine savings!