No exact list of documents labelled “Completion Statements” or “Handover Receipts” can be verified from the cited Estate Agents Authority (EAA) material. The directly supported category is receipts for the relevant deposits and outgoings: the EAA says they can support an apportionment account. Its quoted wording refers to providing those receipts to the solicitors or estate agent, but does not state a separate public-authority filing requirement.
Which records have a clear basis?
The EAA states that property outgoings are apportioned between the vendor and the purchaser. The receipts identified in the cited wording are therefore relevant to checking the outgoings being accounted for.
| Record | Treatment under the cited guidance |
|---|---|
| Receipt for a relevant deposit | It falls within the category that the EAA says can support the apportionment account. |
| Receipt for a relevant outgoing | It also falls within that category. |
| Document labelled “Completion Statement” | The label alone does not establish a separate filing requirement. Its contents and any transaction-specific instructions must be checked. |
| Document labelled “Handover Receipt” | The same applies: the document’s function is more informative than its title alone. |
“Can support an apportionment account” is not the same as “must be filed with a named authority”. The cited EAA passage supports the former; it does not establish the latter.
How to check a statement or receipt
The seller can check each document in this order:
- Identify what it records. Determine whether it concerns a deposit or an outgoing connected with the transaction.
- Check its connection to the apportionment account. The EAA wording refers to “relevant” deposits and outgoings, but the cited passage does not provide an exhaustive list of what falls within that term.
- Distinguish record-keeping from public filing. The quoted wording contemplates providing receipts to the solicitors or estate agent; it does not identify a public filing destination.
- Check transaction-specific papers. The sale agreement, completion documents or written handover instructions may identify a particular statement or receipt. No document-specific requirement should be attributed to the EAA unless the cited wording actually supports it.
What the seller must still confirm
The cited EAA wording does not establish:
- a universal list of named Completion Statements;
- a universal list of named Handover Receipts;
- an exhaustive definition of relevant deposits and outgoings;
- a single filing destination or deadline; or
- that either document label creates a mandatory filing obligation.
The seller must therefore confirm whether a particular statement or receipt is required for that sale, what it records, who must receive it, and where or when it must be submitted. Those points need to be checked against the transaction-specific documents or confirmed directly with the solicitor or estate agent handling the completion.