UK Financial Intelligence Unit data has revealed a sharp fall in suspicious activity reporting from estate and letting agents even as the legal sector dramatically increased disclosures – prompting warnings of a potential under-reporting problem in the property market.
The latest Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) Annual Report 2024-25 shows that property agents submitted just 890 SARs, down 14.8% from 1,044 the previous year.
In contrast, the legal sector recorded a 40% surge, rising from 2,419 to 3,392 reports — nearly 1,000 additional filings.
The reporting gap between the two sectors has widened significantly. Legal professionals now submit 3.8 times more SARs than property agents, compared with 2.3 times more in 2023-24.
DEFENCE AGAINST MONEY LAUNDERING
Defence Against Money Laundering (DAML) requests follow the same pattern. The legal sector filed 1,336 DAMLs in 2024-25, compared with 454 from the property sector – almost three times as many.
While the UKFIU has cautioned that the transition to a new reporting portal may affect year-on-year comparisons, the scale of divergence has raised concerns that the drop in property reporting reflects a genuine detection gap rather than falling criminal activity.
WAKE-UP CALL
Neil Williams (main picture, inset), CTO at Credas Technologies, says: “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 whilst maintaining vigilance. The property sector’s decline suggests agents are either missing red flags or failing to report them.”
BIG TARGET
Property transactions remain a recognised target for money laundering, and lower SAR volumes are unlikely to signal reduced criminal activity.
Williams adds: “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.
“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.”
