Do estate agents need to register with HMRC for money-laundering supervision?

Yes. An estate agency business must register with HMRC for money-laundering supervision before carrying on any estate agency work, and HMRC's registration guide says it is a criminal offence to trade as an estate agency business without being registered, or after your registration is cancelled.

Registration costs £400 a year for each of the premises on your application. HMRC also runs an approval check on the business's beneficial owners, officers and managers, at £40 for each person tested (HMRC's fees page, last updated 22 December 2025). They can start in their role once their approval application is submitted, but must stop straight away if they fail it; an unspent conviction for a relevant offence rules a person out.

Registration is where most businesses go wrong: most entries on HMRC's published list of businesses that have not complied with the money-laundering regulations are for failing to apply for registration at the required time.

Registering is only the start. A registered agency also needs a firm-wide risk assessment, written policies and controls, a nominated officer and staff training (MLR 2017 regulations 18, 19, 21 and 24), and customer due diligence on every buyer and seller, with the records kept for five years after each relationship ends.

Certaby can't register for you. Once you are registered, it keeps the records HMRC asks to see: a dated, signed certificate for every sale, with each customer's checks, risk record and monitoring.

Source: HMRC: registration guide for estate agency businesses

Last updated 2026-10-04.