Thirdfort analysis shows one in 10 home buyers use overseas funds

Analysis comes as Thirdfort completes more than 1m Source of Funds verifications through its platform

New research from client due diligence platform Thirdfort shows that one in ten (9.7%) home buyers are using funds originating overseas to fund all or part of their purchase.

Having completed more than one million Source of Funds verifications through the platform, the data reveals that the five most common source countries are India, USA, Hong Kong, Italy and China. Over the last two years, China has moved into the top five, taking the place France held previously.

Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and CEO at Thirdfort, said: “Our data points to a market where most buyers are funding a purchase in ordinary, explainable ways. Meanwhile, there is a much smaller, more identifiable set of transactions that create the biggest headaches with money crossing borders, cash moving in patterns worth understanding and more gifts being made. Overall, our analysis helps regulated professionals better understand risk and maintain control.”

Thirdfort also monitors the types of funds used. Its data shows that cash use in society is declining, but it has not disappeared from property transactions. Some 9% of buyers have made more than 10 cash deposits into the account funding their purchase in the past six months, and 8% have a median deposit value more than £500.

However, high cash deposits, meaning a median deposit of more than £500, have fallen steadily: 9.47% of Source of funds verifications met that threshold in 2023, 9.52% in 2024, 7.54% in 2025, and 6.99% so far in 2026.

Cryptocurrency, meanwhile, is having a limited impact. Only around 0.1% of buyers and giftors have funds coming from cryptocurrency, and that figure has held steady since 2024.

Since launching its Source of Funds feature in 2019, Thirdfort has helped verify the funds over one million, buyers, sellers and giftors across the UK. Source of Funds is now part of Thirdfort’s Client Due Diligence Platform, replacing the slow back-and-forth of emailing bank statements and chasing explanations, with a single flow that your client completes on their phone.