The average fine for non-compliance with anti-money laundering (AML) regulation in the estate agency sector has increased by 63.7%, research by Credas Technologies has found.

According to the study of accountancy services, estate agency, money services, trust or company services and high value dealers, the average AML fine across the five industries has increased by 19% in the past year, rising from an average of £75,078 to £89,372.

This increase has been driven entirely by the estate agency sector, said Credas, with the average fine rising from £3,577 to £5,853. In fact, the research showed fines for high value dealers shrunk by 69.2%, while accountancy (-38.7%) and money services (-29.5%) also saw decreases. (No change was reported for trust and company service providers as records only started in 2021/22).

Despite the average rise, the research revealed that the severity of AML fines issued within estate agency ranked the second-lowest among the industries. Only accountancy had a lower average, at £3,547. In contrast, the average fine handed out to money service providers was as much as £167,457.

However, the average AML fine handed to estate agents is predicted by Credas to increase further. The identity verification provider has forecast that it will reach £6,285 in 2022/23, with the sector estimated to pay a total of £177,570 in penalties.

Credas pointed out that this pales in comparison to the £772,618 worth of fines handed out to estate agencies in 2021/22 and is almost £850,000 less than the annual fines peak of 2019/20, when agents had to pay almost £1.1m in total.

“On the face of it, an increase in the average AML fine issued to estate agents may seem like a backwards step, but when taken in context of where the sector was, we’re certainly moving in the right direction,” said Tim Barnett, CEO of Credas Technologies.

“In fact,” he added, “the nation’s estate agents deserve praise for the manner and speed in which they have managed to get their AML ducks in a row at a time when the market has still been booming and they’ve been busier than ever, processing a record number of transactions and dealing with the practical fallout of a global pandemic.”