Source of funds: what we ask you to show for your purchase money, and why

Source of funds checks at a glance

Where our buyers’ money comes from

When you ask us for a quote, we ask how you are paying. This is how 811 purchase quote requests answered (website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026).

Answers overlap: a buyer with a mortgage can also have a gift and be selling. The quote questions: “How are you funding the purchase?” (With a mortgage / Cash buyer) and “Is any of your deposit a gift?”

What will you need to show for each part of your money?

Most purchases are paid for from more than one place: a mortgage, savings, a gift, the sale of a home. Put in your price and where each part comes from in the tool at the top of this page. The tool shows how much you send us, the tax that is paid separately, and the kinds of paper that usually prove each part. We tell you exactly what’s needed early on.

This is a guide to the kinds of paper involved, not a fixed list. The rules do not set a number of months of statements. What we ask for depends on how the money was built up, and each paper should explain the last one. If something is unclear, we ask a follow-up question.

Why does a solicitor ask where your money came from?

The Money Laundering Regulations 2017 put the duty on us as your conveyancer, not on you. We must identify you and verify who you are, using documents or information from a reliable, independent source. We must also keep checking the transaction as it goes on, including, where necessary, where the money comes from. The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) says conveyancing presents the greatest money-laundering risk in the legal sector, which is why property work gets this attention.

These are standard checks for every client. They are not a sign that anyone suspects you. The SRA compares them to airport security: you cannot tell who is honest at a glance.

If the checks cannot be finished, the law says we must not carry out the transaction. So we cannot use the money or complete the purchase until they are done.

Source of funds or source of wealth: which one are we checking?

Usually source of funds. The SRA defines it as the money being used for this purchase, and it means understanding where that money came from, not just that it exists. Source of wealth is wider. It is where all of a person’s wealth comes from, not just the part used for the purchase.

A question about source of wealth is more likely when the law requires extra checks. One example is a buyer who holds, or recently held, a senior public role such as a minister, MP, senior judge or ambassador (a “politically exposed person”), or who is a close family member or close associate of one. Then the rules require adequate measures to establish both source of wealth and source of funds.

My lender has approved me. Why do you still need my bank statements?

Because the law puts a separate duty on us. Your lender or broker looks at your deposit for its own lending decision. We must make our own checks on you and on the money that passes through our client account, whatever the lender has seen. Sending your papers to us early means our checks are not left until just before exchange.

If you are buying with someone, each person named on the title has an identity check. That is why our quote charges the identity check per person.

Does a gift or money from abroad change the checks?

Yes, in two ways. If someone gives you money towards the purchase, the SRA says we may need to verify that person’s identity and where their money came from too. What the giver sends, and what your lender asks of them, is on our gifted deposit page.

The law also requires extra checks in higher-risk cases, for example where a party to the deal is established in a country on the Financial Action Task Force’s “call for action” list. “Established” means living there, not where someone was born.

When must the money reach us, and how do you send it safely?

The money for your deposit must reach us at least 1 working day before exchange. The balance must reach us at least 1 working day before completion. Our checks on that money have to be finished before we can use it, so send your papers when we ask, not when the money moves.

We will never change our bank details by email, text or phone call. Before you send us money, call us on a number from this website to check our account details.

Sending money by same-day bank transfer appears on your quote as “Telegraphic Transfer Fee (Per Transfer)”.

What does the check cost?

The checks themselves appear as two lines among the disbursements on your quote:

• Verification of Source of Funds, once per purchase.
• Verification of Identity and AML Checks, per person.

Both are already inside the typical purchase disbursements on your quote, so they are not added a second time.

Only if part of your deposit is a gift: Gifted Deposit Check, or Gifted Deposit Check (from outside the UK).

The figure for each line is in your written quote. See all our fees. Stamp Duty Land Tax (England) or Land Transaction Tax (Wales) and the HM Land Registry fee are government charges: they sit in their own box and are never in one total with our fees. We give you a written, itemised quote before you instruct us.

What tends to hold up a source of funds check?

• Papers are asked for late, close to exchange. Our checks must finish before we can use the money, so we ask at the start and you send them when we ask.
• The money moved through several accounts, so each statement raises a new question. Tell us the full route at the start; each paper should explain the last one.
• A savings or investment account we have not seen before. Tell us about it at the start under “Anything else” and we tell you what we need.
• A giver will not share their papers. When we need checks on a giver, we cannot use the gift until they are done. The SRA says a solicitor who does not get the information needed cannot go ahead with the case.
• The buyer thinks the lender’s approval covers our checks. Our duty is separate (see above).

Is anything different in Wales?

The money-laundering checks are the same in Wales: the 2017 Regulations apply across the UK. The tax is different. In Wales you pay Land Transaction Tax to the Welsh Revenue Authority, not Stamp Duty to HMRC. The return and the tax are due within 30 days of the day after completion; for Stamp Duty in England it is 14 days. We file the return for you, so the tax is part of the money you send us. 55 of our 811 purchase quote requests were for a home in Wales (website quote requests, 2 Sep–29 Oct 2026). Work out the tax with our Land Transaction Tax calculator.

What happens to the papers you send us?

The law says we must keep the records from these checks for at least five years after our work for you ends, and then delete the personal data unless another rule lets us keep it. How we use and protect your information is in our privacy notice.

What happens next

• Your mortgage offer: what happens next
• Buying a house: the whole process with us
• Conveyancing cost calculator
• Buying through a limited company: the company papers we check
• More buyer situations, explained