Agents warned on spring surge in AML activity

Agents are being urged to ensure they are up to speed with anti-money laundering (AML) requirements as the market enters its “busiest time of the year.”

AML platform Credas Technologies has analysed historic data on the seasonal distribution of real estate AML registrations, revealing that while winter was once the busiest season, it’s now spring that has become the busiest time of the year for estate agents.

This spring could be busier than most, Credas claims, highlighting that AML market activity was up by 45.3% between January and December, also up 21.6% when compared with January 2022. 

The figures from Credas show that in 2018-19, the highest percentage of AML registrations - 35.1% - came during the winter. The same applies to 2019-20 when 37.6% of submissions came between December and February.

In 2020-21, the most AML registrations came in during summer  at 31.5%, most likely driven by the housing market boom created by the Government’s pandemic Stamp Duty holiday. 

In 2021-22, however, spring was the busiest time of the year with 27.7% of all AML registrations being submitted between March and May, a trend which has continued into this year.

In 2022-23, it is expected that spring will account for 28% of all AML registrations, followed by 26.5% during summer, a projected 24.1% during the upcoming winter and, lastly, 21.4% during autumn. 

Tim Barnett, chief executive of Credas Technologies, said: “It’s been an exceptionally busy start to the year for the nation’s estate agents, logging more AML registrations than last year when the pandemic market boom was still in full swing. 

“Our historic data shows that this uptick in market activity looks set to continue throughout the spring months and this suggests that any fears of a housing market downturn are now firmly behind us. 

“This is great news for the nation’s agents but, of course, means ensuring that they’ve got sufficient stock on the books and staff in the office to serve eager springtime buyers.

“It also means making sure that they’ve got the required AML measures in place in order to process all of the required registrations without a spike in buyer activity causing an operational bottleneck.”