Leaving the UK? A Practical Guide to Moving Your Money Abroad

The best approach is to treat it as a short project with a running order, rather than one big transfer on the day you fly. In practice that means three things: keep the right UK accounts open so income and refunds still have somewhere to land, line up a way to convert and send money that gives you a competitive rate, and schedule the large conversions around the events that actually move your wealth (selling a home, taking a pension, the moment you become non-resident for tax).

The reason timing and provider choice matter so much is that the cost of moving money is mostly invisible. Most people focus on the transfer fee, which is often small. The larger cost is buried in the exchange rate itself. Get that part right and the savings on a six-figure move can be meaningful; get it wrong and the loss is quietly baked in before the money even arrives.

None of this needs to be complicated, but it does reward a little planning. The sections below walk through the exchange-rate question, the timing question, the keep-or-close question on UK accounts, and how to keep all of it in step with your tax position.

When you convert pounds into another currency, there is a wholesale rate that banks trade between themselves, often called the mid-market or interbank rate. You almost never get that rate. The provider gives you a slightly worse rate and keeps the difference. That difference is the margin, or spread, and it is the main way banks and currency firms make money on a transfer. There may also be a separate transfer fee on top.

On a small transfer the margin barely registers. On a large one, such as the proceeds of a house sale or a lump sum from a pension, it can add up to a sum worth caring about. This is why high-street banks are often an expensive way to move large amounts: their default margin can be wider than what a specialist currency dealer will offer, simply because FX is not their core business and there is no prompt to negotiate.

A specialist dealer can often quote a tighter margin, particularly on larger amounts, and will usually be transparent about the rate you are getting versus the mid-market rate. That is the whole point of using one. We will not quote you a rate or promise a saving here, because rates move constantly and every transfer is different, but the principle holds: on a big move, the margin is the number to scrutinise, not the fee.

The honest position on timing is that nobody can reliably predict where exchange rates will go. Trying to wait for a better rate is a gamble, and it is one that can leave you worse off and stressed during a house move. The more sensible discipline is to time transfers around real events in your move rather than around the market: when a property completes, when a pension is paid, when you have actually settled in your new country and know what you need.

There is, however, a tool that helps when you know a large sum is coming but it has not landed yet. A forward contract lets you agree a rate now for a transfer that will happen at a future date. If you have exchanged contracts on a UK property sale and completion is two months away, a forward contract can let you lock in today's rate for those proceeds, so a swing in the market between now and completion does not change what you receive in your new currency. It removes the uncertainty, which for many emigrants is worth more than chasing a slightly better rate.

Forward contracts and similar hedging tools are offered by regulated currency providers, not by us, and they come with their own terms (for example, a deposit may be required). Whether one suits you depends on your timeline and how much certainty you want. It is the kind of thing worth asking about when a large, dated transfer is on the horizon.

In most cases, yes, keep at least one UK account open. People who close everything the week they leave often regret it. You may still have UK income to receive (rent from a let property, dividends, freelance work), HMRC may owe you a refund that is easiest to pay into a UK account, a UK or workplace pension may pay in sterling, and there are usually final bills and direct debits to settle in the months after you go. A UK account gives all of that somewhere to live.

Be aware that some banks restrict or close accounts for customers with a non-UK address, so it is worth checking your bank's policy before you move and, if needed, finding one that is comfortable with overseas residents. Keeping a UK account does not, by itself, affect your tax residence, so this is a practical convenience question rather than a tax trap.

The natural pairing is a UK account that receives your sterling, plus a relationship with a currency provider that converts and sends amounts abroad when you choose to, on a competitive rate. That keeps your sterling income flowing in and lets you move it across in sensible chunks rather than being forced to convert everything at once.

Your money plan and your tax plan are really the same plan, and the most common mistake is to run them separately. The date you become non-resident, whether you qualify for split-year treatment in your year of departure, and the timing of any gains or income you realise all shape both your tax bill and the best moment to move funds. Decisions about when to sell a UK asset or take a pension are tax decisions first, currency decisions second.

A clear example is selling a UK property as you leave. There is the Capital Gains Tax position to think about, including the 60-day reporting and payment deadline on UK residential property, and there is the separate question of when and how to convert the proceeds. The two interact: the tax outcome can depend on your residence status at the point of sale, and the currency outcome depends on the rate and method you use to bring the money across. Getting advice on the tax side first means you are converting the right amount at the right time, not scrambling afterwards.

This is exactly where a tax adviser and a currency partner complement each other. Horizon handles the tax: your residence position, split-year treatment, the timing of disposals, and your final UK return. The regulated currency partner we introduce you to handles the actual conversion and transfer. You get a joined-up plan instead of two separate conversations that never quite meet. For the tax mechanics of departure, see our guides on leaving-the-uk tax and split-year treatment.

If a move abroad is on your horizon, we are happy to help you line up the tax and the currency side together. Get in touch with Horizon to talk through your leaving-the-UK tax position, and if it would help, we can introduce you to our trusted, regulated currency partner for the transfers themselves. The enquiry comes to us, and we make the introduction; we do not provide the FX service or handle your money.

• Confirm your tax timeline first: your likely date of non-residence, whether split-year treatment applies, and the timing of any property sale, pension or large income.
• Decide which UK accounts to keep open for ongoing income, refunds and final bills, and check your bank is comfortable with an overseas address.
• Work out the large, dated transfers you can foresee (sale proceeds, pension lump sums) and when they are likely to land.
• Compare the exchange rate margin, not just the fee, especially on big amounts, and ask a specialist provider what rate they can offer against the mid-market rate.
• If a large transfer is coming but not yet in hand, ask whether a forward contract to fix the rate suits your timeline.
• Keep the tax and the currency plan in step, so you convert the right amount at the right moment rather than reacting after the event.

When you are ready, enquire with Horizon. We will help with the leaving-the-UK tax side and, if it suits you, introduce you to our regulated currency partner so the tax and the money move in step. We are an introducer only, so the FX and payment services are provided by that partner's regulated institutions, not by us.