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From conversations with our landlord and potential customers recently, it’s clear that while people interested in property are aware that Anti-Money Laundering (AML) regulations have been tightened up recently, the specifics of what means are less clear.
For that reason, we wanted to lay out the basic situation as it now exists. If you want to know what it will mean for you, we of course recommend you contact us online or at our Ambleside, Windermere, or Lancaster branches. We’ll be happy to help you understand the situation and offer you support.
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Why Does the Property Market Need AML?
Property deals, deposits, and rental payments are all opportunities for criminals to use, move, or ‘launder’ stolen or illegal money. In the process of passing through several different hands, any attempt to identify this money’s source is muddied, which launders it, rendering it ‘clean’ to use.
AML legislation tends to be enacted in response to shifts in our understanding of organised crime, and it is designed to make it more difficult to launder money in whatever the popular method of the time may be. This legislation will make the property market safer and create a stable environment.
What’s Changed?
Before May 2025, checks only needed to be carried out on high rent properties, which was defined as properties with over £8,300 rental per month. Now, every rental will need to be checked, no matter the price.
The responsibility for carrying out AML duties has also expanded, so it’s not just letting agents but also private landlords who must carry out checks now.
Those checks include checking tenants against the UK sanctions list and verifying the identity of each adult tenant before a new tenancy agreement is signed. Letting agencies like Matthews Benjamin must also check the identities of private landlords, to ensure that everyone is who they say they are.
We will need to see an official photo ID and proof of address from within the past three months as part of our tenant identity check.
For property owners looking for our landlord services, we will similarly need to see an official photo ID and proof of your ownership of the property.
These records must be kept for at least five years, and of course, our records must be treated properly in accordance with data protection laws.
It is also now required that if, on our checks, we think that a tenant, a landlord, or a payment might be connected to a crime, this must be reported to the appropriate authorities (either the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation for Sanctions List matches, or the National Crime Agency).
Punitive fines are levied if agencies or landlords are found to be in violation of these requirements.
As such, it’s important that properties be handled by conscientious, thorough people who have the time and dedication to keep up to date with all relevant legislation, not just on AML but elsewhere.
As a consequence we know that several private landlords are now looking to work with reputable letting agencies– knowing it’s being handled for you by someone with experience can be fantastic for your peace of mind. If you have properties around Lancashire and Cumbria and you’re looking for an agency to support you, why not get in touch and see how we can help?
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If you are a private landlord interested in working with us, Get In Touch today