Knowledge base

What are the May 2025 UK letting-agent sanctions rules?

From May 2025, every UK letting agent must screen tenant + landlord on every let against UK sanctions, with a 7-year audit trail under MLR-2017. Enforced by HMRC.

What is LSAG-2025 and how does it differ from LSAG-2018?

LSAG-2025 is the 2025 update to the Letting Sector AML Guidance. Adds PEP + adverse-media screening, beneficial-ownership for corporate landlords, list-version timestamps in the audit trail.

What are the MLR-2017 obligations for UK accountants in 2026?

UK accountants must run Customer Due Diligence at engagement, Enhanced Due Diligence on high-risk clients, and ongoing monitoring throughout. Supervised by ICAEW / ACCA / AAT.

What is the FCA Warning List and why does it matter?

The FCA Warning List names unauthorised firms + clone firms targeting UK consumers. Updated daily; checking it before any financial transaction is a regulator expectation.

What is the difference between OFSI, UN, and EU sanctions lists?

OFSI is the UK domestic sanctions enforcer; the UN list is the global Security Council list; the EU list is the EU's consolidated list. UK firms screen all three.

What is the difference between a PEP match and an adverse-media match?

PEPs are politically-exposed persons defined under FATF Recommendation 12. Adverse media is media-mention evidence of crime, fraud, or other risk. Different sources, different actions.

How is a UK UBO calculated under MLR-2017?

A UBO under MLR-2017 reg 5(1)(a) is anyone owning 25%+ of a UK company indirectly through any chain of ownership. Through-walk multiplies stakes (75% × 75% = 56.25% UBO).

How does MEES compliance work for UK letting agents in 2025?

MEES requires let property to be EPC band E minimum since 2018-04-01. The 2030 rule lifts the floor to band C. Penalty: £30,000 per domestic property let in breach.

When does the EPC band C 2030 rule kick in for landlords?

The MEES 2030 rule lifts rented residential property to EPC band C from 2030-04-01. New tenancies first; existing tenancies covered from 2033 (currently consulted).

How does flood risk affect a UK property let or sale?

Environment Agency publishes flood risk by river, sea, and surface water. Letting agents disclose; conveyancers screen; insurers price. Postcode-level data is free + authoritative.

OpenSanctions vs OFSI: which should I use?

OFSI is the UK authoritative sanctions list. OpenSanctions is an aggregator with 200+ sources including PEP catalogue + adverse media. UK firms typically use both.

Can I get a 2080s flood-risk projection for a property?

v1: yes for ~30 flood-exposed UK postcode areas. EA Climate Change Allowance multipliers map to a forward-state band step-up. Defaults to 2080s Higher Central per EA planning guidance. Surface-water + per-river-basin GIS ingest are v2.

How fast do you alert on a new sanctions designation?

Same-day alerts on new OFSI / UN / EU designations affecting your monitored entities. Resend email within minutes; SMS path queued behind Twilio account creation. Daily digest as the safety net.

How does the suite score tenant affordability?

Heuristic v1: rent / income at the 33% UK letting test. Pass annualRent + tenantStatedIncome for the agent-stated path; postcode falls back to LA-level median income (top ~50 LAs in v1). Complementary to Goodlord/HomeLet.

Can I record gas-safety, EICR, and Awaab Cat-1 status on the suite check?

Yes. Optional gasSafetyExpiry + eicrExpiry + awaabHazardLevel fields on POST /v1/suites/letting-agent/check trigger derived warnings (expiry, Cat-1 hazard) on the response. RRA-2025 + Awaab prep, no upstream data source required.

Can I screen an international tenant against multiple country watchlists?

Yes. The letting-agent suite screens against OFSI + UN + EU + OpenSanctions global (40+ jurisdictions) by default. Pass screenJurisdictions: ["GB", "IE", "US"] to record specific jurisdictions on the cert.

Why use Certaby instead of a spreadsheet + manual checks?

Manual sanctions + PEP + UBO + property checks take 30-45 minutes per let. Certaby runs all 8 in one transaction with a hash-bound audit PDF. £4.95 per check.