Moving the money
Every buyer here moves a serious sum into euros — deposit, balance, notary, then the builder in stages. A high-street bank charges nothing that looks like a fee and takes 3–5% in the exchange rate instead. A currency broker takes well under one. On a scheme house the difference pays for the survey, the notary and the translation.
What the spread costs
“No transfer fee” is not the same as free. The charge is the gap between the rate on the news and the rate you are given, and it scales with the amount — which is why it barely registers on a holiday and costs four figures on a house.
When each payment falls due
At the proposta — Deposit — often 10%, sometimes a fixed €1,000–5,000
Small enough that speed matters more than rate. This is the one to send while you open a broker account.
Before the deed — The balance, the notary's fee and the taxes
The big one, and the one worth holding a rate on. Your notary will give you a date weeks ahead — that is exactly what a forward contract is for.
Through the works — Builder payments, usually in three or four stages
Each stage is its own transfer. A fee-free broker matters more here than on any single payment.
Afterwards — Rates, utilities, insurance, the standing costs
Small and repeating. A euro account in your own name is the cheap way to hold a float.
High-street bank
£1,370–£2,270
lost in the rate and the wire fee
About €50,784 arrives.
Currency broker
£135–£315
on a much thinner margin, usually no fee
About €52,387 arrives.
You keep
£1,055–£2,135
Roughly the survey, the notary and the translation, paid for by not using your bank.
Planning ranges, not quotes: banks typically take 3–5% in the exchange rate plus a fixed wire fee, brokers 0.3–0.7% with no fee. Nobody here publishes a live rate — ask two brokers on the day and compare the euros that land, never the percentage they quote.
Who to ask
Rates move and every broker will beat a bank, so the only question worth asking is which of them beats the other this morning. Open accounts with two — it is free and takes ten minutes each — then ask both for the euros that will land on your amount.
The one most Italian-property buyers end up using. Offices in southern Europe and a property desk that understands a notary deadline.
FCA-authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (firm reference 900669) — check it on the FCA register.
Open Currencies Direct →Similar shape to Currencies Direct, consistently strong on service. Worth a second quote against them on the day.
FCA-authorised as an Authorised Payment Institution (firm reference 517320).
Open TorFX →Smaller, property-focused, run by ex-brokers. Good if you want one human who answers the phone.
FCA-authorised as an Authorised Payment Institution (firm reference 753989).
Open Key Currency →The cheapest way to move smaller sums — deposits, survey fees, the first year of bills. Less suited to a six-figure completion where you want a rate held.
FCA-authorised as an Electronic Money Institution (firm reference 900507).
Open Wise →How we are paid, and what we are not
Some of the brokers above pay us a referral commission when someone opens an account through our link. It costs you nothing and it does not change your rate. We list them because buyers here use them, and we would list them either way — the arithmetic at the top of this page is the same whoever you go with, including a broker we have never heard of.
We are not financial advisers and nothing here is advice. Every firm above is authorised by the FCA; check any of them on the FCA register before you send money, and never send money to an account given to you in an email you did not expect.
Working out the whole number first? The true-cost calculator adds up everything between the €1 headline and a habitable house.