Estate agents file fewer suspicious activity reports as lawyers file more

Estate and letting agents filed fewer Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) in 2024-25, even as the legal sector sharply increased reporting, according to data from the UK Financial Intelligence Unit (UKFIU).

UKFIU figures show estate and letting agents submitted 890 SARs in 2024-25, down from 1,044 the year before. Over the same period, the legal sector filed 3,392 SARs, up from 2,419.

The change widened the reporting gap between the two professions. Legal professionals submitted 3.8 times more SARs than estate and letting agents in 2024-25, compared with 2.3 times the previous year.

The data also shows a similar divergence in Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests. The legal sector filed 1,336 DAML requests in 2024-25, compared with 454 from the property sector-nearly three times as many.

Portal transition

The UKFIU noted that the move to a new reporting portal may affect year-on-year comparability. Even so, the rise in legal-sector reporting has drawn attention to the decline among estate and letting agents.

Credas Technologies, which sells identity verification and compliance software, said the drop suggests a detection gap rather than a fall in suspicious activity.

Property transactions have long been a target for money launderers because they can involve large sums and complex ownership structures. Regulators and law enforcement agencies have repeatedly warned that criminals can use property purchases to place and conceal illicit funds.

Industry observers also note that estate and letting agents sit early in the transaction chain. They often collect initial customer information and identify the parties involved, so fewer SARs at this stage can delay the identification of suspicious cases.

Manual processes

Some property firms still rely on manual compliance checks and paper-based record keeping, which can make it harder to spot inconsistencies across documents and patterns across multiple transactions.

Neil Williams, chief technology officer at Credas, said the figures suggest the property sector has not kept pace with change.

"This data should be a wake-up call for the property sector. After years of gradual improvement, we're now moving in the wrong direction. The legal sector has shown a 40% increase in reporting during the same period-proving that practitioners can adapt to new systems while maintaining vigilance. The property sector's decline suggests agents are either missing red flags or failing to report them."

Williams linked reporting levels to the tools firms use for customer due diligence, saying manual approaches create friction for staff and reduce the likelihood that anomalies are spotted and escalated.

Digital identity verification systems can automate checks against identity documents and other data sources. Providers also market reusable digital credentials, sometimes described as digital wallets, to store verified identity information that can be used across services.

Credas said these tools could reduce the administrative time spent on know-your-customer and anti-money-laundering checks, while improving consistency in how information is collected and assessed across branches and agents.

"Estate agents are operating in an increasingly complex risk environment, but many are still relying on manual, paper-based compliance processes that make it difficult to spot patterns or anomalies," Williams said. "Digital wallets and automated verification tools don't just make compliance more efficient-they make it more effective. When identity verification is standardised and digital, red flags become easier to identify and report. The property sector needs to embrace these technologies, not just to meet regulatory obligations, but to genuinely protect the market from exploitation."

Founded in 2016, Credas is based in Cardiff and supplies identity verification and customer onboarding software used in legal and property services. It said it verifies more than four million individuals a year and has been certified as an Identity Service Provider under the UK Government Trust Framework at a "very high" level of confidence.

The UKFIU SARs data is likely to remain a reference point in discussions about compliance standards across regulated sectors as government and industry assess reporting trends following the portal transition and broader shifts in financial crime risk.