ds7971 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I've never owned a house before, but am in a fortunate position. I have the cash to buy a small apartment (which is what I am looking for). I have been notionally living at home, as I have been working in another part of the UK and actually staying a few days a week with friends. I have been saving ever since I started work in 2002 and have built up enough cash from my income to buy a flat. The money is in instant access accounts and ISAs. I have been told that when you buy a property there is a question on the forms something along the lines of "What is your source of funds?" with the aim of preventing money laundering. Obviously my money is legitimate, but I am worried that it might get me into problems with this question as I have not got the money from a previous house sale it is purely "cash in the bank". Any advice gratefully received thank you. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misanthrope Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 When making a transaction, your solicitor/conveyancer should verify the sources of any private funding to ensure that there are no money laundering practises inherent - given the sums involved. In your case, a paper trail of bank statements demonstrating transfers of monies between accounts; proof of previous earnings etc will be sufficient, if requested. Nothing to worry about, when you're legitimate. Just due process. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bloo Loo Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 make sure the suitcase is nice and clean. remove any security ink from the piles of notes. remove blood from the piles of notes. dont take a gun into the meeting. make sure you are a white caucasian. take a pair of shot glasses and some slivovic to seal the deal with the vendor. job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Misanthrope Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 make sure the suitcase is nice and clean. remove any security ink from the piles of notes. remove blood from the piles of notes. dont take a gun into the meeting. make sure you are a white caucasian. take a pair of shot glasses and some slivovic to seal the deal with the vendor. job done. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StainlessSteelCat Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Shouldn't be a problem. Both the EA and our solictor wanted proof of legitmate funds. EA was happy to see it on a computer screen but print outs wouldn't satisfy them, our solictor wanted six months worth of bank statements but was happy with print outs showing a steady savings rate (all accounts are online). Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 The advice given will suffice. There is an occasional problem with council RTB tenants who have been on benefits asking to buy their house and bringing in a suitcase full of notes. The first step is to ask where it has come from and check where possible. It may be a legitimate bequest. If still unhappy, as is usually the case, then this gets reported to the police as possible money-laundering and they don't get the house. It usually is money-laundering from drugs operations. With the tenant as the patsy carrying the initial risk, though the police may well seize the money is they think it's proceeds of crime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandOfConfusion Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 our solictor wanted six months worth of bank statements Oh God, that's going to be difficult. I'm in a similar situation to the OP except my money is spread everywhere. It's been in loads of easy acces accounts and bonds. In fact I've got at least five savings sources right now. Did your solicitor just want to see current account statements or absolutely everything? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
StainlessSteelCat Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Oh God, that's going to be difficult. I'm in a similar situation to the OP except my money is spread everywhere. It's been in loads of easy acces accounts and bonds. In fact I've got at least five savings sources right now. Did your solicitor just want to see current account statements or absolutely everything? They wanted to see where the cash was being saved. My savings accounts only do yearly statements so one of those for each account plus a few months of current account statements was enough to satisfy them. It took around 10 minutes to print them all from online accounts. I'd suggest talking to your solictor though - I'm sure they'll be able to accomodate as far as the regulation allows them to. I think my solicitors request went something like showing a pattern of regular savings accumulating over a period of six months. It was pretty open to interpretation. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Banner Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 They wanted to see where the cash was being saved. My savings accounts only do yearly statements so one of those for each account plus a few months of current account statements was enough to satisfy them. It took around 10 minutes to print them all from online accounts. I'd suggest talking to your solictor though - I'm sure they'll be able to accomodate as far as the regulation allows them to. I think my solicitors request went something like showing a pattern of regular savings accumulating over a period of six months. It was pretty open to interpretation. My understanding is that they have to satisfy themselves that the funds are legitimate, how they do that is up to them. So if you show them a few statements and they think you are above board, that's the end of it. However, if they are suspicious they will dig a lot further and may ask you to account for every penny. I have been asked to state source of funds on a few occasions when transferring 'house sized' amounts of money from one bank to another. In each case, a verbal 'it's our savings' has been sufficient. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
justthisbloke Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 This interests me as well. I have money stashed all over the place and from 101 different sources. Some of it is savings, some of it came from family gifts. And all of this was a long time ago - I've not really saved (apart from re-investment) for years. There's simply no way I could prove the money is legit. And because I've moved money around, I'm not even sure I can remember which bank and accounts were the ones I originally built up a pattern of savings into. If some f**ker takes my life savings on the basis of some anti-terror law... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bruce Banner Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 This interests me as well. I have money stashed all over the place and from 101 different sources. Some of it is savings, some of it came from family gifts. And all of this was a long time ago - I've not really saved (apart from re-investment) for years. There's simply no way I could prove the money is legit. And because I've moved money around, I'm not even sure I can remember which bank and accounts were the ones I originally built up a pattern of savings into. If some f**ker takes my life savings on the basis of some anti-terror law... I would just say 'savings' and argue, if questioned further, that it's all savings as it came from various legitimate sources and has not been spent, ie saved . Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CHF Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 (edited) you'll feel a bit sick if it does drop in value and you lose all that hard earned. Why not put just a deposit down borrow the rest off someone and let them take a share of the risk. If it all goes TU then at least you still have some cash to buy beans. Edited May 23, 2010 by CHF Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Knimbies who say No Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I've never owned a house before, but am in a fortunate position. I have the cash to buy a small apartment (which is what I am looking for). I have been notionally living at home, as I have been working in another part of the UK and actually staying a few days a week with friends. I have been saving ever since I started work in 2002 and have built up enough cash from my income to buy a flat. The money is in instant access accounts and ISAs. I have been told that when you buy a property there is a question on the forms something along the lines of "What is your source of funds?" with the aim of preventing money laundering. Obviously my money is legitimate, but I am worried that it might get me into problems with this question as I have not got the money from a previous house sale it is purely "cash in the bank". Any advice gratefully received thank you. I suppose you should also bear in mind that, despite it being your life savings, these people will deal with vastly larger sums of money on a regular basis. You may be worried about the possibility of problems, but I imagine that they will likely not even bat an eyelid. Do not panic, it will be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Purchased a house in 2005 cash. EA was happy with print outs, the solicitor never asked any questions, the money was BACS transfered to their account. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LandOfConfusion Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 They wanted to see where the cash was being saved. My savings accounts only do yearly statements so one of those for each account plus a few months of current account statements was enough to satisfy them. It took around 10 minutes to print them all from online accounts. Ok. Thanks. That's not so bad. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 They wanted to see where the cash was being saved. My savings accounts only do yearly statements so one of those for each account plus a few months of current account statements was enough to satisfy them. It took around 10 minutes to print them all from online accounts. I'd suggest talking to your solictor though - I'm sure they'll be able to accomodate as far as the regulation allows them to. I think my solicitors request went something like showing a pattern of regular savings accumulating over a period of six months. It was pretty open to interpretation. Does'nt sound right to me. Regulation as you say is the main thing, why do you need to 'prove' to someone where the money is from, if the money in question has already been subject to money laundering rules and is sitting in a UK bank account. If you wanted to pay your solictor with cash from a plastic bag then yes he needs to see proof. Not sure of the amount, but paying money into a bank account a certain amount would trigger the need for proof of origin to be shown. Once money is in a bank account it is 'clean' and has passed regulations. The only way bank accounts can come into question is by police investigations for criminal activities not by some over zealous jobsworth conveyance solicitor. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Purchased a house in 2005 cash. EA was happy with print outs, the solicitor never asked any questions, the money was BACS transfered to their account. I wouldn't show any EA anything, the EA has absolutely no right to ask you any proof or to check anything, only the solicitor could and might do that. Remember the EA is just a scummy salesman, finding a buyer for the seller on commission, not a person to be trusted with any sensitive info like copies of your bank account statements. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 (edited) I wouldn't show any EA anything, the EA has absolutely no right to ask you any proof or to check anything, only the solicitor could and might do that. Remember the EA is just a scummy salesman, finding a buyer for the seller on commission, not a person to be trusted with any sensitive info like copies of your bank account statements. They only want to see you have the funds to proceed as a 'cash' purchase. So your not wasting anyone's time. You don't give them anything you show them. edit to add When i purchased the house cash, it was sealed bids, they don't always take the highest offer, a position to proceed without hinderence is taken into account, so before rejecting the other offers the EA covers his back and ask's to see proof of funds. Which is good business practice on his behalf. I would think it's standard practice on any cash purchase before removing a house from the market. Edited May 23, 2010 by neil324 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
CockneyTrader Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I've never owned a house before, but am in a fortunate position. I have the cash to buy a small apartment (which is what I am looking for). I have been notionally living at home, as I have been working in another part of the UK and actually staying a few days a week with friends. I have been saving ever since I started work in 2002 and have built up enough cash from my income to buy a flat. The money is in instant access accounts and ISAs. I have been told that when you buy a property there is a question on the forms something along the lines of "What is your source of funds?" with the aim of preventing money laundering. Obviously my money is legitimate, but I am worried that it might get me into problems with this question as I have not got the money from a previous house sale it is purely "cash in the bank". Any advice gratefully received thank you. You could take out an offset mortgage. Pay down large deposit, borrow a small about and offset the rest of the savings against mortgage and pay zero interest. The advantage is you can still get at your savings in an emergency as it is not all locked into the house. This is a good hedge against the unknown. Woolwich do a cheap offset. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 You could take out an offset mortgage. Pay down large deposit, borrow a small about and offset the rest of the savings against mortgage and pay zero interest. The advantage is you can still get at your savings in an emergency as it is not all locked into the house. This is a good hedge against the unknown. Woolwich do a cheap offset. Not really a good hedge, if the bank goes bust, you lose your savings (anything above the FSA guarantee) but still owe the mortgage. If you have the money to buy the house/flat outright, then do that, a clear title is 1000 time more peace of mind than an offset mortgage. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
council dweller Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 The advice given will suffice. There is an occasional problem with council RTB tenants who have been on benefits asking to buy their house and bringing in a suitcase full of notes. The first step is to ask where it has come from and check where possible. It may be a legitimate bequest. If still unhappy, as is usually the case, then this gets reported to the police as possible money-laundering and they don't get the house. It usually is money-laundering from drugs operations. With the tenant as the patsy carrying the initial risk, though the police may well seize the money is they think it's proceeds of crime. Maybe from now on the councils won't care where the money comes from, especially from next year when they are likely to keep 100% of RTB receipts.(rather than giving 75% to central government as at present) I'm currently making a plan to buy 'out right' too.....maybe next year, no reason to buy now. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frank Hovis Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Maybe from now on the councils won't care where the money comes from, especially from next year when they are likely to keep 100% of RTB receipts.(rather than giving 75% to central government as at present) I'm currently making a plan to buy 'out right' too.....maybe next year, no reason to buy now. I didn't know that change was coming in. Is that a direct consequence of the Housing Revenue accounts being scrapped? I'm not a fan of RTB, there isn't enough social housing stock now without selling it off and also causing management / maintenance problems. I don't blame you for doing it though CD, good luck with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Eagle Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 They only want to see you have the funds to proceed as a 'cash' purchase. So your not wasting anyone's time. Again, the buyer (or his lawyer) can reasonably ask for it, but if the EA asks for it I would say I'm only showing that to the buyer or his lawyer. There are so many dodgy scamster EAs around that I'd never give them access to this kind of sensitive info. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
council dweller Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 I didn't know that change was coming in. Is that a direct consequence of the Housing Revenue accounts being scrapped? I'm not a fan of RTB, there isn't enough social housing stock now without selling it off and also causing management / maintenance problems. I don't blame you for doing it though CD, good luck with it. Yes, councils will be able to keep receipts from sales and all rent receipts. Just the small problem of paying back debt...around 25 billion I think. Of course the new government will review this, probably tinker a bit and then let it go through. Due to start next April. Not a great fan of RTB either but I've no wish to become a housing association tenant, we fought off transfer last year but I'm not sure we can do it again and again. Not easy to fight off a council using your rent money against you in the form of endless propaganda. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
neil324 Posted May 23, 2010 Share Posted May 23, 2010 Again, the buyer (or his lawyer) can reasonably ask for it, but if the EA asks for it I would say I'm only showing that to the buyer or his lawyer. There are so many dodgy scamster EAs around that I'd never give them access to this kind of sensitive info. Well of course thats your choice, but it's not un-reasonable if an EA to request it as he is acting on behalf of the seller. How do you know that the seller is not a dodgy scammer? Your willing to show it to them, i suggest if your that worried to only trust the solicitor, even then your not 100% sure, i even know dodgy solicitor's. A glance at a printed bank statement is hardly sensitive information. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Recommended Posts
Join the conversation
You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.