Safe Harbour Linking Documents

This article discusses supporting documents that appear when issuing one of our Safe Harbour vendor journeys. We also have the following guides available to assist you with your Safe Harbour:

• Safe Harbour Guide
• Safe Harbour Results

What are supporting documents?

Where you have issued an individual with one of our Safe Harbour Vendor journeys, the individual will be asked to provide two linking documents to the property being sold. This is a requirement for HM Land Registry to meet Safe Harbour standards for transferors, borrowers or lessors. 

The two linking documents that the individual captures, will be presented to you in the portal as 'supporting documents' as can be seen below. These documents will always need manually reviewing by yourselves. 

Linking document requirements

If the transferor, borrower or lessor is an individual, they will need to provide two of the following documents linking them to the property being sold below (please note - this is not a requirement for purchasers):

• Utility bills, bank or building society's statements dated within the last three months;
• Local authority council tax bills for the current financial year;
• Original mortgage statements from a recognised lender for the last full year;
• Current UK or EEA photocard driving licence
• HMRC self-assessment letters or tax demands dated within the current financial year;
• An insurance policy schedle for the property;
• A current firearm or shotgun certificate;
• Credit cards bearing the Mastercard or Visa logo, an American Express or Diners Club card, or a debit or multi-function card bearing the Mastercard or Visa logo which was issued in the United Kingdom and is supported by an account statement less than 3 months old;
• A copy of the agreement for purchase of the property;
• A lettings agent agreement on headed paper;
• A local authority building regulations sign off for works undertaken to the property addressed to the individual;
• Management company service charge demands for the property addressed to the individual;
• Confirmation of tenancy deposit scheme registration.

You will need to check the document, and that the name and address of the individual claiming the identity match those on the linking documents provided.

The statements referred to in the list above can be postal or online statements. Reliance can be placed on an online statement provided it is evident that it has been received or downloaded by the individual and refers to the subject property. Screenshots of online statements will not satisfy the Safe Harbour standard. You can read more about Safe Harbour standard requirements here - Practice guide 81: encouraging the use of digital technology in identity verification - GOV.UK 

Are linking documents required for purchasers?

No, two linking documents are not required for purchasers, and will only be captured as part of our Safe Harbour Vendor journeys. 

What happens if you are not satisfied with the linking documents provided?

If you do not believe the linking documents provided satisfy Safe Harbour requirements, you can resubmit the task back to the individual and give them another attempt by following the steps here - Resubmitting an Identity Check to your client : Partner Support 

What happens if the individual does not have linking documents?

If the individual does not have the two linking documents provided, it would be down to your own internal policies on what you should do next. 

If you have issued the individual with a Safe Harbour Vendor, the individual will not be able to complete their check until they have submitted two documents and therefore you may wish to send them a journey that does not have these requirements. However, unfortunately, if the transferor, borrower or lessor cannot provide the two linking documents, then you will be unable to meet Safe Harbour standard for them. This requirement does not apply to the purchaser party. 

Got any questions? 

If you have any questions please reach out to the Credas support team by contacting us here

We are committed to continually improving our support resources for you. We would greatly appreciate your feedback below to help us enhance your experience.