A Right to a Basic Account If You Are Legally Resident, and the Word Used to Mean the European Union
The United Kingdom gives a legal right to a bank account, and it is narrower than it sounds. Regulation 23 of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015 makes a consumer eligible for a payment account with basic features at a designated credit institution if they are legally resident in the United Kingdom and either hold no comparable account with any United Kingdom credit institution or are ineligible for the institution's ordinary accounts. Legal residence is defined generously at the edges - it expressly includes consumers with no fixed address, asylum seekers, and people who have no residence permit but whose expulsion is impossible for legal or practical reasons - and the institution must verify eligibility unless it relies on the consumer's own declaration. The words "United Kingdom" in that regulation are not original. They were substituted on 31 December 2020 by the Payment Accounts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019, replacing the European Union: a right that once ran to anyone legally resident anywhere in the Union now runs only to residents here. The account itself must be free: regulation 20 prohibits any fee for the sterling services listed in regulation 19. Separately, every bank must apply customer due diligence when it establishes a business relationship, under regulation 27 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, and that is the obligation a newly arrived person meets as a request for documents.
At a glance
- Right to an account
- Eligibility for a payment account with basic features at a designated credit institution, under regulation 23(1) of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015
It is an eligibility rule rather than a duty expressed as a right, and it binds designated credit institutions rather than every bank.
- Residence test
- Legally resident in the United Kingdom
Regulation 23(1). The words "United Kingdom" were substituted for the European Union on 31 December 2020 by S.I. 2019/661.
- Who counts as legally resident
- Including consumers with no fixed address, asylum seekers within the meaning of section 94 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999, and consumers with no residence permit whose expulsion is impossible for legal or practical reasons
Regulation 23(2)(a). The list is inclusive rather than exhaustive.
- Second limb of eligibility
- Not holding a payment account with any United Kingdom credit institution with at least the regulation 19(1) features, or being ineligible for all the institution's other accounts
Regulation 23(1)(a) and (b). A person who already has an ordinary current account cannot claim a basic account.
- Fees for a basic account
- None for the regulation 19(1) services provided in sterling; a reasonable fee is permitted only where a service is provided in another currency
Regulation 20(1) and 20(2) of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015.
- What "reasonable" is measured against
- National income levels, and average fees charged by UK credit institutions for the service
Regulation 20(3) of the Payment Accounts Regulations 2015.
- When a bank must run customer due diligence
- On establishing a business relationship, on a funds transfer exceeding 800 pounds, on suspicion of money laundering or terrorist financing, and on doubting documents previously obtained
Regulation 27(1) of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which prints the figure as a sum in pounds sterling.
- Occasional transaction threshold
- 12,000 pounds or more, whether in one operation or several that appear to be linked
Regulation 27(2) of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which prints the figure as a sum in pounds sterling and excludes letting agents, high value dealers, art market participants, certain cryptoasset firms and casinos from this paragraph.
- Cash threshold for a high value dealer
- 10,000 pounds or more in cash
Regulation 27(3) of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which prints the figure as a sum in pounds sterling.
Requirements
- Legal residence in the United Kingdom, which includes having no fixed address and being an asylum seeker
- Either no comparable account with any United Kingdom credit institution, or ineligibility for the institution's ordinary accounts
- Identification and verification to the standard the bank applies under its customer due diligence obligation
- A declaration, if the institution chooses to rely on one rather than verify eligibility itself
In detail
The right is real and it is bounded in three ways
Regulation 23 does something most countries in this corpus do not: it makes refusal unlawful for a defined class of applicant, and it includes in that class the people banks are most likely to turn away - someone with no fixed address, someone waiting on an asylum claim, someone who cannot be removed and has no permit. But it binds designated credit institutions rather than all banks, it is available only to a person who does not already have an ordinary account, and it gives an account with basic features rather than any account. Regulation 20 then makes the account free in sterling, which closes the obvious way of defeating the obligation by pricing.
What Brexit did to it, and what it did not do
The Payment Accounts Regulations implement a European directive, and until the end of 2020 the eligibility test was legal residence in the European Union. The Payment Accounts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 substituted the United Kingdom on 31 December 2020. The structure, the fee prohibition and the inclusive definition of legal residence all survived unchanged; what was removed was the cross-border reach. This is a useful comparison point against the other European countries recorded here, where the same directive produces a right that still runs to any Union resident.
Due diligence is the practical obstacle, not eligibility
Nothing in the Payment Accounts Regulations overrides regulation 27 of the Money Laundering Regulations 2017, which requires customer due diligence whenever a business relationship is established. A person who is plainly eligible under regulation 23 can still be unable to open an account because they cannot evidence who they are or where they live to the bank's satisfaction. The Regulations set the triggers and the thresholds; they do not prescribe which documents satisfy them, and that is where a newly arrived person's difficulty actually sits.
Exceptions by origin
No exceptions recorded
Nothing we have read treats any nationality differently for this topic. The rule above applies to everyone.
What the law says
«23.—(1) In order to be eligible for a payment account with basic features offered by a designated credit institution (“B”), a consumer must be legally resident in the \[ [F1](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/2038/regulation/23#commentary-key-9759b94a3bb8f17fd7c43bbf3f4f1ab8 "View the commentary text for this item") United Kingdom\], and must either— (a)not hold a payment account with any United Kingdom credit institution that has at least the features set out in regulation 19(1); or (b)be ineligible for all payment accounts offered by B that are not payment accounts with basic features.»The whole eligibility test. The square brackets around "United Kingdom" are legislation.gov.uk's marker for substituted text and are left as printed, because they are the visible trace of the Brexit amendment.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
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«(2) For the purposes of paragraph (1)— (a)consumers legally resident within the \[ [F2](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/2038/regulation/23#commentary-key-5faebb0b22f2953b54b96dbb7c260c4e "View the commentary text for this item") United Kingdom\] include— (i)consumers with no fixed address; (ii)asylum seekers within the meaning of section 94 of the Immigration and Asylum Act 1999( [1](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/2038/regulation/23#f00021 "Go to footnote 1")) (interpretation); and (iii)consumers who have not been granted a residence permit but whose expulsion is impossible for legal or practical reasons; (b)a consumer is not to be considered to hold a payment account where the consumer makes a declaration that the credit institution with which the payment account is held has given notice that the payment account is to be closed. (3) A designated credit institution must verify whether a consumer falls within paragraph (1)(a), unless it chooses to rely on a declaration made by the consumer to that effect.»The part that makes the right usable by people who have nothing to show. No fixed address is expressly inside legal residence, and the bank may take a declaration rather than demand proof.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«Words in [reg. 23(1)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2015/2038/regulation/23/1 "Go to reg. 23(1)") substituted (31.12.2020) by [The Payment Accounts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019 (S.I. 2019/661)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2019/661 "The Payment Accounts (Amendment) (EU Exit) Regulations 2019")»The narrowing, dated. The right was implemented from a European directive and ran to legal residents of the European Union; on 31 December 2020 the words were replaced so that it runs to legal residents of the United Kingdom. A reader from an EU state who held the right in 2020 does not hold it now unless they live here.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«19.—(1) A payment account with basic features is a payment account, denominated in sterling, which allows consumers to— (a)open, operate and close the account; (b)place funds in the account at the counter of the publicly accessible premises of— (i)the credit institution offering the payment account with basic features (“A”); and (ii)any other credit institution with which A has agreed arrangements that allow any consumer who holds a payment account with A which is not a payment account with basic features to place funds with that institution;»The account is defined by what it lets a consumer do rather than by a product name, which is why a bank cannot satisfy the obligation with a stripped-down product of its own design.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«20.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), a credit institution must not charge any fee for \[ [F1](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2015/2038/regulation/20#commentary-key-a7be652eed2658243c84c1e0c185763b "View the commentary text for this item") a service set out in regulation 19(1) when that service is provided in sterling\] as part of a payment account with basic features. (2) Where a credit institution provides any service set out in regulation 19(1) to a consumer in a currency other than sterling, the credit institution may charge a fee for that service provided that the fee charged is reasonable. (3) In determining whether a fee charged pursuant to paragraph (2) is reasonable, regard shall be given to the following criteria— (a)national income levels; (b)average fees charged by UK credit institutions in respect of the service.»Free in sterling, chargeable in another currency, and the reasonableness of that charge is measured against national income levels as well as market rates.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«27.—(1) A relevant person must apply customer due diligence measures if the person— (a)establishes a business relationship; (b)carries out an occasional transaction that amounts to a transfer of funds within the meaning of Article 3.9 of the funds transfer regulation exceeding \[ [F1](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-c66216478568a8fe34a4a14728b753d8 "View the commentary text for this item") £800\]; (c)suspects money laundering or terrorist financing; or (d)doubts the veracity or adequacy of documents or information previously obtained for the purposes of identification or verification. (2) A relevant person who is not \[ [F2](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-c41239be8a37b2344e32aad026c065f0 "View the commentary text for this item") a letting agent,\] a high value dealer, \[ [F3](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-875351aecd4b4f3ebdb941a7f5834479 "View the commentary text for this item") an art market participant, a cryptoasset exchange provider of the kind referred to in paragraph (7D)\]\[ [F4](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-7c7b7cd82e58bb1374e871257a86fbc3 "View the commentary text for this item") or (7E), a custodian wallet provider of the kind referred to in paragraph (7E)\] or a casino must also apply customer due diligence measures if the person carries out an occasional transaction that amounts to \[ [F5](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-dc3f36612f6f036094a35d77d63ad884 "View the commentary text for this item") £12,000\] or more, whether the transaction is executed in a single operation or in several operations which appear to be linked. (3) A high value dealer must also apply customer due diligence measures if that dealer carries out an occasional transaction in cash that amounts to \[ [F6](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#commentary-key-8858cb935c9def07588276bd7a49dedf "View the commentary text for this item") £10,000\] or more, whether the transaction is executed in a single operation or in several operations which appear to be linked.»The obligation a new arrival experiences as a demand for proof of address. It is triggered by establishing the relationship itself, so it applies to the basic account too, and nothing in the Payment Accounts Regulations displaces it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
«### Changes and effects yet to be applied to Regulation 27: [Moreeffects to be announced](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/uksi/2017/692/regulation/27#statusEffectsAppliedContent) - Sch. 6 para. 7(ga) inserted by [S.I. 2026/621](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2026/621) [reg. 36(b)](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2026/621/regulation/36/b) - reg. 34A inserted by [S.I. 2026/621](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2026/621) [reg. 20](https://www.legislation.gov.uk/id/uksi/2026/621/regulation/20)»Two effects from S.I. 2026/621 that the editorial team has not yet applied, one of them a whole new regulation 34A. The instrument has not been read here, so what it does is unknown; what is known is that the consolidated text of these Regulations is behind it.
Read it at the sourceAbout this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
Practical notes
Which institutions are designated credit institutions for regulation 23 is set by HM Treasury and no designation list has been read for this record. A reader needs that list to know which banks the obligation binds.
Regulation 21 of the Payment Accounts Regulations, which governs refusal and termination of a basic account, has not been read. This record says who is eligible, not on what grounds an account may be refused or closed.
The Money Laundering Regulations do not say what documents satisfy customer due diligence. Regulation 28, which sets out the measures themselves, has not been read.
The regulation 27 page lists two effects from S.I. 2026/621 not yet applied to its text, so the consolidated wording read here is known to be behind its own amendments.
No bank's own terms have been read. Where a bank's published account-opening requirements go beyond these Regulations, that divergence is not recorded here because it has not been checked.
- consolidatesPayment Accounts Regulations 2015, regulation 19
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesPayment Accounts Regulations 2015, regulation 20
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesPayment Accounts Regulations 2015, regulation 23
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source
- consolidatesMoney Laundering, Terrorist Financing and Transfer of Funds (Information on the Payer) Regulations 2017, regulation 27
The National Archives, legislation.gov.uk · consolidated to 2026-10-11
About this source
The official statute book of the United Kingdom, run by The National Archives. It serves every Act of Parliament and every UK statutory instrument, and for most of them it serves a revised text maintained by an editorial team rather than the text as enacted. One provision at a time is addressable: legislation.gov.uk/<type>/<year>/<number>/<section|regulation|schedule|article>/<n>, with /part/<n> under a schedule and /made for the original of a statutory instrument. That shape is what makes a statute book this size readable - section 3 of the Immigration Act 1971 is 61,000 characters where the Act entire is unusable. Every provision page prints a status box stating the date to which it is up to date, a Changes to Legislation disclaimer, and, where there are any, a list of effects the editorial team has not yet applied.
Standing: Maintains the text in force
Cannot be cited for: Its consolidation date is not an editorial date but the date of the request, so two provisions of the same Act read a day apart carry different cut-offs, and the cut-off must be taken from each page rather than from the Act. It carries no Immigration Rules: the Rules are laid before Parliament under section 3(2) of the Immigration Act 1971 and published by the Home Office, and nothing in them is on this site. Some instruments are served only as made, with no revised text at all, and the site says so on the page - the Driving Licences (Exchangeable Licences) Order 1984 is one, and its electronic text was contributed by Westlaw from the printed copy. Where a page lists outstanding effects, the text shown is known to be behind its own amendments, and where an amending provision was never commenced the page lists an effect that will never arrive: section 6 of the British Nationality Act 1981 carries effects from a 2009 Act whose amending provisions are themselves prospectively repealed. It is not a source for what a department does, for fees set administratively, or for any external document an instrument incorporates by reference.
We re-read it every 90 days. More about this source