Source of Funds when Buying Property - Getting it right first time

If you are planning to either buy your first home, upsize to a larger property or otherwise invest your money in property, it is very likely that you will be required to provide source of funds evidence to your conveyancer at the onset of the transaction.

To reduce the amount of time you are required to spend on this part of the process, we want to help you ensure that you are providing the correct information at the earliest opportunity.

Unfortunately, the obligations on Conveyancers are quite strict.  Under the current legislation as well as providing evidence that you have sufficient funds available for the purchase in the form of a bank or savings account statement, you must also be able to prove where these funds have come from. For example, are they the result of regular salary savings, inheritance, a gift from family members or the sale of a previously owned property.

As the examples listed above are the most common areas for source of funds, we will look at each option in a little more detail.

Savings

Most people tend to keep their savings in a separate account to their regular bank account, so your conveyancer will need to see statements for both accounts to see how the savings have built up over time. Savings can be a set sum coming from your salary every month or lump sum payments from a work bonus scheme, so it’s important to bare this in mind when producing your bank statements. If you only provide statements that show a small set sum paid into your savings monthly, but have then paid in a substantial bonus, this will raise further questions from your conveyancer if you haven’t also provided a statement for that larger sum. Most solicitors will request six months of bank statements as evidence of your savings.

Inheritance

If you have received an inheritance from someone’s estate it may be that you either dealt with the estate yourself as Executor, or more usually, that it was dealt by a solicitor. If you dealt with the estate yourself, you would need to provide a copy of the estate accounts together with either the Grant of Probate or Letters of Administration. If the administration of the estate was dealt with by a solicitor, you will need to provide the letter from them confirming your share of the inheritance.  In both instances a bank statement showing those monies being paid into your account will be required also.

Gift

If you are being gifted funds towards your purchase from family members you will need to provide contact details for all parties providing a gift. Similarly, as with your own savings, it is necessary to establish where the funds of your family members have come from, and they will also need to provide identification documents. If the gift is very large, your family members would be informed they may wish to seek independent legal advice.

Sale of a previous property  

This is normally the easiest source of funds information to produce as you are required to provide a completion statement from the solicitor who dealt with your sale, along with a bank statement showing the funds going into your account.

The source of funds detailed above is not exhaustive and there are other means of funding your purchase which may not have been covered. The key however is to provide as much information as possible together with a full explanation about any transfers and transactions that have taken place to try and get this aspect of the process dealt with at the onset of the transaction to avoid delays later on.

If you have any questions or concerns regarding source of funds, we are happy to help and provide guidance.