You have decided to buy a place abroad. A flat in Lisbon for retirement, a village house in a Turkish valley your parents came from, a family home in Florida, an apartment in Berlin your daughter is settling in. You have signed something in principle, or your offer is about to. Now you are sitting with your UK bank’s app open, staring at the “international transfer” screen. A rate you do not recognise. A wire button that just goes. Something tells you this is not the right tool for the size of the money.
You are right. For a personal property transfer of about 20,000 pounds and above, an FCA-regulated currency broker is almost always the right tool, and your bank’s wire button is the most expensive one on the screen.
The between systems hub piece on moving your savings to the UK covers the source-of-funds question from your UK bank’s end. That is the money coming in. This piece is the other direction: the money going out to the notary, the notaire, the escrow account, the tapu office. Different check, different paperwork, different tool.
The size of the move is what changes the answer
For 300 pounds to your mother, Wise or Revolut is the whole answer. For a house deposit or a whole purchase, the calculation is different.
The bank’s silent margin becomes real money. UK high-street banks put a markup on the exchange rate when you press the wire button. Industry surveys put the typical range at 2 to 4.25 percent above the real rate (the one you get if you search “pound to euro” on Google). On a 100,000-pound send to euros, that is 2,000 to 4,250 pounds you never see on the screen. The screen shows no fee, and the app calls the transfer free. It is not.
The app’s per-transfer cost stops beating a broker’s margin. Wise’s own margin on a plain GBP-to-EUR send lands around 0.4 percent, plus a small fixed fee. Below about 20,000 pounds, Wise almost always wins. Between 20,000 and 100,000, either can work. Above 100,000, a specialist broker starts to pull ahead, because the broker’s margin is spread across more money and the app’s fixed piece stays fixed.
The completion date changes the question entirely. Wise can hold a rate for you for two to forty-eight hours on most currency pairs; that is its “guaranteed rate” window. A property completion date is not two hours out. It is two to six months out. In two months the pound against the euro can move three to five percent without anything unusual happening in the world. On a 100,000-pound send, that is another 3,000 to 5,000 pounds of movement, in either direction.
The tool that solves the timing problem is a forward contract, and it is the reason people move from an app to a broker for this size of trade.
The forward contract, in one paragraph
A forward contract lets you fix the exchange rate today for a settlement date up to about two years out. You pay a deposit of around 10 percent of the sterling amount when you agree the contract. You pay the balance on the settlement date. Whatever the rate does between now and then, your rate is the one you agreed today. If your completion date is October and you sign the contract in March, you can stop watching the rate every morning. You know what the house costs, in pounds, from March.
If sterling rallies hard between the day you sign the contract and the day it settles, the broker can ask for more deposit money to keep the position collateralised. That is a margin call, and it is real. On a 200,000-pound contract, a five percent move against the broker’s position can mean a five-figure top-up request within a few days.
The rate the broker quotes you on the phone is the rate that binds. The number the website shows before you have signed up is an indication. Ask for the executable quote in writing (a screenshot or a confirmation email is fine) before you agree to send.
Wise does not offer a forward contract of any kind. Neither does Revolut. Neither does your UK high-street bank on a personal account. If a forward is what you need, a currency broker is the tool.
What a currency broker actually is (and how to pick one)
The full name is a foreign-exchange broker (or “FX broker” on their websites): an FCA-authorised firm that specialises in moving personal and business money between currencies. You open an account online, and the day after that a person from their dealing desk phones you to introduce themselves and walk you through the first trade. If you do not want the call, an app is the wrong shape of tool for you. That call is how brokers work.
The rate a good broker quotes on a 100,000-pound send lands close to the real rate, closer than any UK high-street bank will give you. The broker’s margin sits inside the rate rather than as a separate line item. On the shortlist of established UK brokers, a personal-transfer margin at this size runs somewhere around 0.3 to 0.4 percent, though nobody publishes a rate card and every quote is negotiated on the phone.
How you pick one:
- Check the FCA register. Any broker that will take your money should publish its FCA firm reference number on its site. Search that number on the FCA register at
register.fca.org.ukand confirm the firm name and permissions match. If a broker is not authorised, walk away. - Ask about safeguarding. An FCA-authorised payment institution has to segregate your money in a designated account at an authorised credit institution under regulation 23 of the Payment Services Regulations 2017 (or the equivalent under the Electronic Money Regulations 2011 for e-money firms). Segregated is not the same as FSCS deposit-protected: the 85,000-pound FSCS scheme does not cover money you are holding at a broker. What safeguarding does is put you ahead of general creditors on insolvency. That is worth understanding before you leave a six-figure balance sitting.
- Ask how long they have been trading. Fifteen years and above is a reasonable floor for this shape of transaction. New brokers may be fine; the older ones have moved property completions before and their dealing desk will know what a Portuguese notario or a Spanish gestor will want.
- Get the phone rate in writing before you commit. Repeat this: the phone rate binds, the website rate is a signal.
The paperwork on the OTHER side, per country
The UK bank on your side of the transfer will run a source-of-funds check on the outbound money, in the same shape it runs on inbound money for someone moving savings to the UK. The country on the other side has its own file. What follows is the shape of it for the seven routes UK buyers most often use.
Portugal
You need a NIF (Numero de Identificacao Fiscal, the Portuguese tax number) before the deed. UK nationals are non-EU now, so the application at Portal das Financas requires a Portugal-resident fiscal representative to submit it on your behalf. Cost of a representative varies; budget a few hundred euros.
The notario handles the escritura publica de compra e venda; that is the deed that transfers title. You choose the notario, and their office collects the taxes at signing.
Two taxes at completion. IMT (municipal transfer tax) is banded. On a secondary home, the bands (2026, after the 2 percent uplift in the state budget) are 1 percent up to €106,346, then 2 percent to €145,470, 5 percent to €198,347, 7 percent to €330,539, then a flat 8 percent above that, up to €633,931. Imposto do Selo (stamp duty) is 0.8 percent of the higher of the price or the tax-appraised value (the VPT).
No rule requires the money to route through a Portuguese account. Balance can arrive by international transfer or banker’s cheque to the seller or the lawyer’s client account. Portuguese anti-money-laundering rules mean the deed itself records where the money came from and which account it arrived from, so keep the paper trail.
Spain
You need an NIE (Numero de Identidad de Extranjero) before the notario will draft the deed. Two routes: apply at a Spanish consulate in the UK (London, Manchester or Edinburgh) using form EX-15, or apply in Spain in person at a Policia Nacional office. The consular route is slower but you do not need to fly to Spain to complete it.
Two officials on the Spanish side. The notario authorises the escritura publica de compraventa; that is what transfers title in law. The Registro de la Propiedad then inscribes it, which is what protects your title against later dealings.
Tax on a resale property is ITP (transfer tax), and it is set by the region, not by Madrid. Current 2026 rates: Madrid 6 percent flat; Andalucia 7 percent flat; Catalunya progressive at 10 percent up to €600,000 then 11 percent and 13 percent above; Valencia 9 percent (11 percent above €1M) from 1 June 2026. On a new build from a developer, it is IVA (VAT) at 10 percent on the price, plus AJD (stamp duty on the deed) at the regional rate, typically between 0.5 and 1.5 percent.
A recurring piece of advice from long-term UK expats in Spain: do not deposit the sterling balance into a Spanish personal bank account before the notario needs it. The standard route is your UK bank or broker straight into the notaria’s or your lawyer’s client account, then to the seller at signing. There is a Spanish cash-movement rule (Modelo S-1 or E-1) but it applies to physical cash crossing a border, not to a wire, so you can ignore it for this trade.
France
The notaire runs the whole thing. You sign a compromis de vente (the binding preliminary contract) after your offer is accepted, then the acte authentique de vente at completion, usually two to three months later. The notaire handles the funds: you wire the completion money to the notaire’s account, not to the seller. Under a 30 November 2000 decree, the notaire’s third-party funds are held at the Caisse des Depots et Consignations, which is a state financial institution, so the money is sitting somewhere very sober while the deed is finalised.
The frais de notaire are the buyer’s, and they are not just the notaire’s fee. They bundle the notaire’s fee, the departmental transfer duty (DMTO), and various registration costs. For an existing property (ancien), budget 7 to 8.5 percent of the price. Article 116 of the 2025 finance law let the departments raise the DMTO ceiling from 4.50 to 5.00 percent for deeds signed between 1 April 2025 and 31 March 2028; 88 of the 101 departments have used the ceiling, so most of France is now at the higher end of that range. For a new build (VEFA or neuf), the taxes are structured differently and the total is 2 to 3 percent.
You will need a French numero fiscal (SPI, the 13-digit tax number) at the ownership phase, for the annual taxe fonciere and any rental income; on the primary source at impots.gouv.fr this is not framed as a pre-signature bar for a cash purchase of an existing home, though your notaire will usually ask you to apply as soon as the compromis is signed.
The notaire is legally an anti-money-laundering obliged entity under the French monetary code; they will verify the origin of the funds (payslips, sale deeds, a succession letter, a loan offer) and can file a TRACFIN suspicion report if the story does not hang together. Have the paperwork ready when the compromis is signed, not after.
Italy
You need a codice fiscale (Italian tax number) before signing. Three routes: apply at the Italian consulate in the UK by post using form AA4/8 (about 45 days), do it in person at an Agenzia delle Entrate office in Italy, or appoint a delegate in Italy with power of attorney (the fastest route pre-purchase). There is no fully online first issue.
You choose and pay the notaio, who drafts the public deed (the rogito notarile). The notaio can hold the price in a fiduciary deposit (deposito prezzo) between signing and registration, if you and the seller prefer that shape.
Tax on a resale property from a private seller is imposta di registro. The prima casa (primary home) rate is 2 percent (with a €1,000 minimum), but claiming prima casa means transferring your anagrafic residence to the Italian comune within 18 months; a UK resident not relocating cannot claim it. The seconda casa rate is 9 percent (with a €1,000 minimum). On top of that, imposta ipotecaria and imposta catastale are fixed at €50 each. For a new build from a developer, IVA (VAT) replaces the imposta di registro: 4 percent prima casa (again with the residence rule), 10 percent ordinary, 22 percent luxury; the three fixed taxes then become €200 each.
Payment at the rogito must be traceable. Standard shapes are an assegno circolare non trasferibile (a non-transferable banker’s draft) or a bonifico (a wire), and the notaio records the payment method in the deed under AML rules.
Turkey
Turkey has the strictest funds-flow rule of the seven routes in this piece. Since 24 January 2022, and confirmed under the Turkish central bank’s Sermaye Hareketleri Genelgesi Article 13, the entire foreign-currency payment for a property sold to a foreign buyer must be sold to the Central Bank of the Republic of Turkey (CBRT) through a Turkish bank first, before the tapu (title deed). The bank issues you a Doviz Alim Belgesi (DAB, a foreign-currency purchase certificate); since 7 December 2022, the DAB is delivered bank-to-tapu electronically. The lira amount on the DAB becomes the declared tapu value. No workaround. No partial. The full foreign-currency payment is captured.
The tapu harci (title deed fee) is 2 percent of the declared value, paid separately by buyer and seller (4 percent combined). A separate SPK-licensed valuation report has been mandatory for all property sales to foreign nationals since 4 March 2019; the report is prepared by a valuer on the SPK’s list and is valid for three months.
You will need a vergi kimlik numarasi (tax number), which is free and available online at dijital.gib.gov.tr/foreigners/kimlikNoBasvuru with your passport, or in person at any Vergi Dairesi.
The restrictions worth knowing before you look at a specific plot: a foreign natural person can hold a maximum of 30 hectares nationwide (extendable to 60 by a Council of Ministers permission), no more than 10 percent of any district’s privately owned area is available to foreigners in aggregate, and property inside military or security zones is off-limits. The nationality list is set by a Presidential Decree on reciprocity.
Cyprus
For a non-EU buyer (UK nationals now qualify), a Council of Ministers permit is still required under Cap. 109. Approval has been delegated to District Officers in practice, and the standard cap is one dwelling or one plot up to 4,014 square metres per applicant (a couple counted as one applicant). Processing runs several months, though registration and possession can proceed while the permit is pending.
Land Registry transfer fees are a sliding scale: 3 percent up to €85,000, 5 percent between €85,001 and €170,000, 8 percent above €170,000, applied per band. If the sale is VAT-charged (a new build), the transfer fee is waived entirely. On a resale (no VAT), a 50 percent reduction applies.
VAT on a new build is 19 percent standard, with a 5 percent rate available for a primary residence within tightened limits (first 130 sqm, value cap €350,000, total transaction under €475,000, total area under 190 sqm, from Law 42(I)/2023). A transitional relief for buyers under pre-October 2023 planning permissions has been extended to 31 December 2026.
Stamp duty was abolished from 1 January 2026 by Law 239(I)/2025. Contracts signed before 2026 still carry the old rates.
One protection worth knowing about: under the Sale of Immovable Property (Specific Performance) Law 81(I)/2011, if you deposit a stamped contract at the District Land Office within six months of signing, you get priority against any later dealings the seller might attempt on the same property. That is one of the two or three items your Cypriot lawyer will not skip.
The United States
You do not need an ITIN (US taxpayer ID) as a foreign buyer at purchase. You will need one later, if you rent the property out, or if you sell to another party. The ITIN comes up in property conversations mainly because of FIRPTA (below), which sits on the seller not the buyer.
Whether your closing is run by a title company or an attorney depends on the state. Attorney-state closings include New York, New Jersey, Massachusetts, Georgia, North Carolina, South Carolina, Alabama, Connecticut, Delaware, Vermont and West Virginia. Elsewhere, a title / escrow company handles it.
The single biggest US-specific risk to know about is wire fraud. The FBI’s Internet Crime Complaint Center (IC3) reported $173.6 million in real-estate-specific losses across 9,359 complaints in 2024, sitting inside a wider $2.77 billion in Business Email Compromise losses. The pattern is always the same: the seller’s email is compromised, you receive “updated wiring instructions” the day before completion, you wire, the money is gone. There is no insurance product that recovers this. The defence is boring: verify the wiring instructions on the phone with the title company or attorney using a number you looked up separately (not one they gave you by email), and confirm the wire went to the right account before you leave the bank.
FIRPTA (the Foreign Investment in Real Property Tax Act) is a 15 percent withholding on the gross sale price when a foreign owner sells; there are lower rates and exemptions at owner-occupied prices under $1 million. It does not apply to you at purchase. It will apply to you at sale, and it is why your future US lawyer will want to see your ITIN then.
One more note: FinCEN’s Residential Real Estate Rule, which was going to require title companies to report the beneficial owner of an all-cash purchase, was vacated by a US district court on 19 March 2026 and is currently unenforceable while the government appeals. The rule may return; if you are reading this months from now, check the current position.
There is no US filing at the border for a wire (the $10,000 CBP rule is for physical cash and monetary instruments crossing the border, not for transfers). The US bank on the receiving side runs its own AML checks, which is where your source-of-funds paperwork gets used.
The two-currency question
Not every property is priced in the country’s national currency, and this is where UK buyers who assume “one conversion” end up doing two.
Turkish property sold to a foreign buyer must, by law, be paid in lira converted through the CBRT, no matter what currency appears on the sale contract. If the contract is in euros, your money still has to route sterling to lira through a Turkish bank before the tapu. There is one conversion, from your currency into lira. Do not do two (sterling to euro, euro to lira); each conversion has a margin, and you pay it twice.
Cyprus deals are usually in euros, but a new-build sold to non-EU buyers is sometimes priced in dollars, especially by developers marketing to Middle Eastern buyers. If your Cyprus contract is in dollars, ask your broker to quote you sterling straight into dollars. Do not go via euros. Same principle.
Spanish villas listed by British-owned developers sometimes carry a sterling reservation figure but a euro final contract. The one that matters is the euro number on the escritura at the notario. Any sterling equivalent on a reservation form is a marketing figure. Ask what the euro price is and price the transfer off that.
The plain version of all of this: convert once, into the currency the deed is written in, and get that in writing from the seller before the deposit moves.
Trap questions worth naming
Do not use your UK bank’s international-wire button for the deposit or the balance without seeing the rate you are being given first. The wire button does not label the markup; the markup is inside the rate, and on a six-figure send it is the largest cost of the transaction.
Do not send the money to an “estate agent’s client escrow account” unless the account is at a regulated bank named in the sale contract itself, and you have verified the account details on a phone call to a number you looked up separately. Real-estate wire fraud is the specific pattern that empties the money in a way no insurance recovers.
Do not fund the deposit from a cash-heavy account without a paper trail. Every notary, notaire, notaio, tapu office and title company on the seven routes above runs an anti-money-laundering check on the origin of the funds. If the money in your UK account got there in cash you cannot document, the deal will pause the day the notary asks and it will not un-pause until you can show the paperwork.
Do not let your daily online transfer limit surprise you two days before completion. Most UK high-street banks cap a personal-account online transfer at somewhere between 25,000 and 100,000 pounds a day. Above that, you go into the branch, or you split the payment across days, or you sent the money through the broker on a schedule that fits your bank’s cap. Find out your bank’s cap the week you agree the compromis or the reservation, not the week of completion.
The order to do it in
- Get the tax number / ID on the other side sorted first. NIF (Portugal), NIE (Spain), numero fiscal (France), codice fiscale (Italy), vergi kimlik numarasi (Turkey), ITIN (US, only when you sell later). Some take weeks; the deal cannot complete without them.
- Open an account with a currency broker on the FCA register. Get the phone call, get the phone rate quote in writing. Or, if the transfer is under about 20,000 pounds and you do not need a forward, open Wise and skip the broker.
- Agree the shape with the broker: spot at completion, or a forward locking the rate to a specific settlement date. If you go forward, keep enough spare sterling for a possible margin call.
- Verify the receiving account details on a phone call to the notary, notaire, notaio, lawyer or title company, using a number you looked up separately. Confirm the wiring instructions verbally before you send.
- Send. Reply the same day to any AML query the broker or the receiving side raises, using the source-of-funds pack you assembled ahead of time.
- Keep every record: the broker’s confirmation, the wire receipt, the DAB (Turkey), the receipt from the notaire’s Caisse des Depots account (France), every email. If a question comes up in five years, this folder is what answers it.
When the app is still the right answer
Everything above is written for the buyer moving 20,000 pounds and up. If the transfer is smaller (a reservation deposit before you agree the main sale, a top-up to the euro account you already keep, the final small settlement of legal fees after completion), Wise or Revolut is almost always the right tool. The apps have plenty of room at that size. The broker’s advantage disappears below the crossover.
The rest of the pieces on money crossing between one banking system and another, from moving your savings to the UK to a large family gift that has been paused for a source-of-funds check, sit under between systems.