Almost 22,000 UK estate agency branches have now registered with HMRC for money laundering supervision – an increase of around 1,500 branches in just over a year, according to new analysis from client due diligence platform Thirdfort.

Some 21,663 branches across the UK have registered with HMRC, the anti-money laundering supervisor for the estate agency sector, according to the latest data available from HMRC. Analysis from Thirdfort, which combines Know Your Client (KYC), Anti Money Laundering (AML) and Source of Funds (SoF) verification, shows this is an increase of 1,604, up from 20,059 in August 2023.

Figures also indicate that the number of unregistered estate agents, or those completing their renewal, is dropping yearly. Last year, more than 4,000 branches were unregistered or were still completing the renewal process – around 18% of the total. This year, fewer than 3,500 branches still need to register or complete their renewal with HMRC.

Compared to the 25,155 estate agents in the UK, according to the latest Office of National Statistics data, this represents just under 14% of branches. Some of these branches will be in the process of renewing and therefore not recorded in HMRC’s online figures, which only records branches once they have been approved.

Olly Thornton-Berry, co-founder and MD of Thirdfort, said: “Money laundering is a continuous risk for property professionals. HMRC and other regulators are stepping up their oversight and are issuing fines for regulatory failures. To avoid such penalties and protect their businesses and clients, all estate agents should register for money laundering supervision with HMRC. Once registered, agents can easily stay compliant, without hindering completion times, through implementing technologies like Thirdfort to make the client due diligence process simple, swift and secure.”

Thirdfort, which aims to protect society from fraud and money laundering, says it has now verified more than 2m people on behalf of more than 1,500 conveyancers, lawyers, estate agents, accountants and other regulated professional services firms.