Property sourcing explained, and what to check first.

What a sourcing agent does

A sourcing agent works for you, the buyer. You set the brief: your budget, the areas you'd consider, and whether you want a long let or a short let. The agent searches against it, runs the numbers on each property and sends you a shortlist. They arrange viewings, in person or by video, and negotiate the offer you approve.

That's where sourcing ends. Your solicitor handles the legal work, a surveyor checks condition and value, and your accountant advises on tax. If you're borrowing, an FCA-authorised broker advises on the mortgage. A sourcer isn't a substitute for any of them.

The law treats it as estate agency

The Estate Agents Act 1979 covers work done in the course of a business, on a client's instructions, to introduce them to someone who wants to sell an interest in land and then to secure the purchase. A sourcer who finds property for a buyer and helps secure it fits that description, and HMRC names property finders among the businesses it treats as estate agency businesses. Three things follow.

A redress scheme. Since 1 October 2008, every business doing estate agency work on homes in the UK has had to belong to an approved redress scheme. GOV.UK lists two for complaints about estate agents: The Property Ombudsman and the Property Redress Scheme. If the agent doesn't resolve your complaint, you can take it to the scheme, which investigates for free.

Money laundering supervision. An estate agency business must register with HMRC for anti-money laundering supervision before it starts trading. Trading without that registration is a criminal offence. HMRC publishes a register, as a spreadsheet you can download, showing each business's registration number and the sectors it's registered for.

Rules on fees and interests. Before you sign up, the agent must tell you what you'll pay and in what circumstances. If the agent, their employer or an associate has a beneficial interest in a property, the agent must tell you before negotiating with you about it.

How sourcing fees work

A fee might be a fixed sum or a percentage of the price. Either way, the Estate Agents Act says that before you enter the contract, the agent must tell you:

• the circumstances in which you become liable to pay
• how much the fee is, or how it will be calculated
• any other payments you may have to make, with an estimate where the amount isn't known yet

Then ask what that list may not answer. Is VAT included? Is any of the fee due before exchange, and do you get it back if the purchase falls through? Does the agent earn anything from the seller, or from the solicitor, broker or surveyor they recommend? GOV.UK says you must be told if an estate agent gets a referral fee from a company it recommends, and that you don't have to use that company.

Below market value: what to check

Some sourced deals are sold as "below market value", or BMV. It sounds precise, but a discount is only as good as the figure it's measured from. Valuers define market value as the estimated amount a property should sell for on a given date between a willing buyer and a willing seller, at arm's length, after proper marketing, with both acting knowledgeably, prudently and without compulsion. If the "market value" in a deal pack is the sourcer's own estimate, the discount is an opinion.

A genuine discount usually has a reason. The seller may need to sell quickly, the property may need work, or there may be a problem with the lease or the title. You need to know which before you offer.

Illustration, not a real property · a flat sold as 20% below market value	Amount
Asking price	£200,000
"Market value" in the deal pack	£250,000
Average of similar flats sold nearby in the last 12 months	£205,000
Discount against recent sales	£5,000

In this illustration the discount against real sales is about 2.4%, not 20%. A sourcing fee and stamp duty could cost more than that.

1. Compare sold prices, not asking prices. You can search sold prices for England and Wales on GOV.UK. HM Land Registry says sales typically take between 2 weeks and 2 months to be registered, so the latest two months of data are incomplete.
2. See what the seller paid. For a property in England and Wales, an online copy of the title register costs £7 from HM Land Registry, as at October 2026. It shows who owns the property and, where available, what they paid. If they bought recently for much less, ask why the price has moved.
3. Get your own valuation. A RICS Home Survey Level 2 can include a valuation, and a mortgage lender values the property before it approves a loan. If either comes in close to the asking price, the claimed discount probably isn't there.
4. Ask who owns it. If the sourcer, their employer, a member of their staff or an associate such as a relative or business partner has a beneficial interest in the property, the law says the sourcer must tell you before negotiating.
5. Price the work. If the discount reflects repairs, get quotes before you offer. A discount the works use up isn't a discount.
6. Be wary of pooled schemes. If you're asked to put money into a scheme instead of buying a property in your own name or your company's, it may be a collective investment scheme. In December 2025 the FCA warned about unregulated schemes of this kind in holiday lodges and holiday homes. It said people who invest through unauthorised firms are unlikely to be able to complain to the Financial Ombudsman Service or claim from the Financial Services Compensation Scheme. Check the firm with the FCA's Firm Checker first.

Checking a sourcer before you sign

• The company. Companies House shows a company's registered address, date of incorporation and current and past officers, free of charge.
• The redress scheme. Ask which scheme the agent belongs to, then check that scheme's register.
• The HMRC register. Download it and look for the business and the sectors it's registered for.
• The terms. Read the fee terms before you commit, and keep a copy.
• The numbers. Ask which figures are estimates. Projected rent and yield on a shortlist always are. Our guide to rental yield shows how they're worked out, and you can test any of them in the investor calculator.

Naras Real Estate is registered with The Property Ombudsman, including as a property sourcing agent. Our sourcing package sets out what we do, what you do and who advises you. If you're buying from abroad, our guide to buying UK property from overseas covers the steps after the offer.