In England and Wales the solicitor decides whether your coins are acceptable money: what they ask for, how the tax on the coins and the stamp duty surcharge for non-residents add up, and where the FCA fits in.
In brief
As of 6 November 2026, you do not hand coins to an English seller. You sell them, receive pounds in a bank account and pay like any other buyer, while your solicitor must be able to trace the money back to its original source. Some law firms and lenders decline crypto as a source of funds altogether. Crypto gains are taxed at 18% or 24% for UK taxpayers, and a non-resident buyer of a home in England pays a 2% SDLT surcharge on top of the standard rates.
What "buying with crypto" means in England and Wales
Most buyers hold coins on an exchange or in a wallet and want a flat in London or a house elsewhere in England. Behind the phrase there are two different things. In the first, you convert coins into pounds through a regulated provider and pay from a bank account. In the second, the seller takes the coins themselves. The first is how almost every English purchase with crypto money works; the second is, at best, a rare private deal and we found no description of it in the sources.
The reason is the conveyancing process. A solicitor acts for you, holds the money in a client account and registers the title at the Land Registry. The price in the contract is in pounds, the completion money arrives as pounds, and the solicitor has to be satisfied about where it came from. For the general picture across countries, start with buying property with cryptocurrency: how it works, countries and risks. For the idea that cash or crypto makes a purchase simpler and anonymous, see the myth page.
Why the solicitor decides
Law firms writing on the subject in 2025 and 2026 say the same things. A solicitor cannot proceed unless satisfied about your source of funds and, where appropriate, source of wealth. For crypto they must be able to verify where the money came from, which usually means a trail from the original fiat money you put into an exchange, through the trades, to the deposit in your bank account, plus evidence that tax has been dealt with. One firm says some law firms and lenders simply decline crypto as a source of funds, so you should ask at the start, before you pay for a survey or sign anything.
We could not find the text of the guidance of the Solicitors Regulation Authority or the Law Society, so these statements come from law firms and should be checked with your own solicitor. What is practical: the earlier you give the solicitor a clean file, the shorter the delay. See the documents checklist for proving crypto income and the general rules on source of funds and taxes.
What is reported and what is not confirmed
- One law firm says that under the Property (Digital Assets etc) Act 2025 crypto is recognised in the UK as a "third category" of personal property. We did not check the legislation; treat it as reported.
- The same firm says certain banks are "crypto-friendly" if funds have been held in a UK account for at least 90 days. We could not verify this and it may not be a rule; ask the bank and the solicitor.
- Reports that a sale can be settled directly in coins without conversion: we found none for England. Assume conversion.
- We do not name any agent or developer as accepting crypto; nothing was sourced strongly enough.
Step by step
1. Ask the solicitor, in writing, whether they accept crypto-derived funds and what evidence they need. Do this before you make an offer you cannot walk away from. 2. Choose how the coins turn into pounds: an exchange or provider registered with the FCA under the money laundering rules, paying into a bank account in your name. 3. Prepare the paper trail: exchange statements, wallet history, proof of the original fiat deposits, tax computations. 4. Convert in stages if the sum is large, and keep every confirmation. Do not convert on the morning of completion. 5. Pay the deposit on exchange of contracts from the bank account, not from an exchange. 6. Pay the stamp duty (SDLT) and register the title. For the buying costs and the market see what you can buy in the UK for £120,000–600,000 and the best areas. 7. Keep the whole file. A later sale, a mortgage or a tax review will ask the same question.
Tax on your coins
Several vendor guides say that for UK taxpayers crypto gains from disposals on or after 30 October 2024 are taxed at 18% (basic rate) or 24% (higher and additional rate), with an annual exempt amount of £3,000. Selling coins for pounds, swapping one coin for another and spending coins all count as disposals; some pages still show the old 10% and 20%. We did not open an HMRC page.
Illustrative arithmetic on stated assumptions, not a quote: you bought coins for £100,000 and they are worth £300,000 when you sell them to buy a home. The gain is £200,000. If you are a UK taxpayer paying the higher rate and all the gain is taxed at 24%, the tax is 24% of (£200,000 − £3,000) = £47,280. What applies to someone who is not a UK resident when they sell the coins was not researched here; ask a tax adviser in the country where you live. If you would rather not sell the coins, see crypto-backed loans to buy property abroad and tokenized real estate and fractional ownership.
Stamp duty for non-residents
Since 1 April 2021 a 2% surcharge is added to each band of SDLT for residential property bought by a non-resident in England and Northern Ireland, according to the HMRC manual as found in search; vendor pages say it is unchanged for 2026/27. The test is generally 183 days in the UK. The surcharge sits on top of the standard bands and any additional-dwelling surcharge; sources disagree on the rate of that last one (3% or 5%), so we do not use it. Scotland and Wales have their own taxes, which we did not research.
Illustrative arithmetic, to be checked against HMRC rates: a non-resident buys a £500,000 home that is not an additional dwelling. With the bands in force since 1 April 2025 (nil to £125,000, 2% to £250,000, 5% to £925,000) the standard SDLT is £2,500 + £12,500 = £15,000. The 2% surcharge on the whole price adds £10,000, so the total is £25,000. If you become UK-resident within a set period you may be able to reclaim the surcharge; sources differ on the conditions.
The provider and the FCA
Firms that exchange crypto for money, or arrange exchanges, must be registered with the FCA under the Money Laundering Regulations, and that registration remains mandatory until the new regime. According to secondary sources, the application window for the new FSMA authorisation runs from 30 September 2026 to 28 February 2027 and the regime starts on 25 October 2027. Existing registrations do not convert automatically. For you this means: check the provider in the FCA register before you send money, and be careful with a platform that talks only about "crypto payments for property".
Sanctions and passports
UK sanctions are enforced by OFSI, and in 2026 it has acted on crypto channels, including the designation of the Huobi Global exchange on 26 May 2026. Solicitors, banks and providers screen clients, and holders of Russian, Belarusian, Kazakh or Ukrainian passports can expect longer checks. We found no source on a solicitor's specific sanctions duties in a purchase. Nothing here is advice on avoiding checks: if a check raises a question, answer it with documents.
Red flags
- A seller or "developer" who asks for coins to a wallet address instead of a client account.
- A discount offered only if you pay in crypto.
- Pressure to skip the solicitor or to move money before the contract.
- A platform that is not on the FCA register, or has a foreign name only.
- A deal that cannot show a Land Registry title.
FAQ
Can I pay for a UK home directly in bitcoin? We found no source describing this for England. The normal route is to sell the coins, receive pounds and pay from a bank account through your solicitor.
Will my solicitor accept crypto money? Not always. Some firms and lenders decline it; ask in writing before you start, and be ready to trace the money back to the original fiat deposits.
How much tax will I pay on the coins? For UK taxpayers, vendor guides give 18% or 24% on gains, with a £3,000 annual allowance. What applies to a non-resident was not researched; ask an adviser.
Is there extra stamp duty for foreigners? Yes, a 2% surcharge for non-resident buyers of residential property in England and Northern Ireland, on top of the standard bands. Check the current rates with HMRC.
Does a Russian or Belarusian passport make it impossible? We found nothing that makes it impossible, but expect longer checks. Sanctions rules are enforced by OFSI; answer every question with documents. This is not legal or tax advice.