Agent AML buyer checks to rise 30% by end of 2022 

The number of anti-money laundering (AML) checks by agents declined in the third quarter but looks se to be up by more than 30% annually, data shows.

AML platform Credas Technologies, which supplied the data, said this suggests a quieter market but also shows that agents are taking their responsibilities seriously when it comes to client checks.

The latest figures from Credas Technologies show that in the third quarter of 2022 there were 136,913 AML registrations submitted by UK estate agencies. 

Credas said the majority of these checks would have been on buyers.

This marks a 3.7% decline on registrations compared to the previous quarter - which suggests that the pandemic-inspired housing boom is starting to slow as fewer homes are purchased so there is not as much demand for AML checks, Credas said.

However, the third quarter figures are still 31.3% higher than those from a year earlier and 40% higher than the third quarter of 2020 when the pandemic property market boom was first starting to bubble.

In total, there have so far been 460,923 buyers registered for AML checks in 2022. 

Credas estimates that, by the end of the year, 540,955 buyers will have been registered for AML checks.

If that comes to fruition, it will mark a 30% annual increase compared with 2021’s overall registration numbers, and will equate to an average of 1,482 buyers being checked on a daily basis.

Tim Barnett, chief executive of Credas Technologies, said: “The housing market continues to move at pace and while a marginal quarterly decline in AML checks suggest that this pace is starting to slow, there remains a high volume of buyers entering the market.

“A substantial annual increase in AML checks highlights just how busy the market has been in 2022 despite the doom and gloom narrative of the last few months. We’ve also seen an uplift in AML fines issued to estate agents, but both of these metrics indicate that the industry is taking the task at hand seriously and this is great to see. 

“However, as we enter a more turbulent period it remains paramount that the nation’s estate agents continue the outstanding example set in 2022 and ensure that AML compliance remains robust."