Do estate agents need AML checks?

Yes. Estate agency businesses are obliged entities under the Money Laundering Regulations in the UK and equivalent regimes across the EU, with HMRC acting as supervisor in the UK. Letting agency work is also in scope above the relevant rent thresholds. Both buyer and seller must be identified and risk-assessed.

When should a buyer be checked?

As early as the relationship allows, rather than at the offer stage. Screening before or at the point an offer is made means a problem surfaces while it is still cheap to deal with, instead of days before exchange.

How long can a straightforward check take at a viewing?

A straightforward low-risk check can complete in around four minutes in the illustrative workflow shown on this page. Actual time depends on the client, screening results, identity checks and your policy.

What should an estate agency business be able to evidence?

The business should be able to evidence its current risk assessment and policy, staff training and acknowledgement, customer and transaction risk decisions, supporting due diligence, and the approvals or escalation behind higher-risk cases.

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Estate agency & lettings · branch-level intake with central oversight

Start the AML decision while the buyer or seller is still in front of you.

JUSTE lets branch teams capture the client, screen the relevant risk factors and apply your firm’s AML policy before the transaction has gathered momentum.

Straightforward parties can move on quickly. Source-of-funds work, enhanced checks and escalation are triggered when the policy requires them, with the reasoning and evidence visible across the business.

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AI recommendsPolicy governsHumans sign offEvidence survives

TRANSACTION FILEManual✓ Policy rules applied

Sale · buyer and sellerIntake by a designated branch negotiator

1 to review

Seller — risk screening and IDCompleteView

Buyer — risk screening and IDCompleteView

Buyer — additional source-of-funds evidenceRequestedTrack

Transaction risk assessmentCompleteView

Governed transaction recordOn completion—

Additional due diligence triggered on the buyer by policy rule 4.2MLRO review required

Illustrative view of a transaction where the buyer requires additional review.

The timing problem

The later AML starts, the more expensive every exception becomes.

When intake is delayed or concentrated in one central queue, exceptions appear after the transaction already has momentum. JUSTE moves routine capture and screening closer to the branch while keeping policy rules, escalations and oversight consistent across the business.

The aim is to establish the risk context early enough that source-of-funds questions, corporate ownership work or specialist review happen before they become a last-minute blocker.

Buyer and seller context — Relevant parties screened and risk-assessed within the same governed transaction workflow.

Source of funds, proportionate — Additional evidence requested when the risk or transaction context requires it.

Corporate and overseas buyers — Entity structure, beneficial ownership and relevant individuals retained together with the final decision.

Lettings workflows — Apply the same policy-governed approach where your lettings activity falls within scope.

Multi-branch visibility — One firm-wide readiness view with branch-level detail and outstanding work underneath.

Staff turnover — Scope, training, acknowledgement and offboarding tracked as operating controls rather than a separate spreadsheet.

At the viewing

Start the record at the viewing, then let the risk determine the work.

Capture the client

Start intake on the negotiator’s phone while the buyer or seller is present, or use a secure link when the interaction is remote.

Establish the risk context

JUSTE screens the relevant risk factors before the workflow asks for additional evidence.

Your policy determines the path

The firm’s rules determine whether additional source-of-funds evidence, corporate due diligence, approval or escalation is required.

The reasoning stays with the transaction

The screening, policy context, additional evidence and approvals remain linked in one governed record and feed the firm’s readiness view.

AML administration across the business

Being able to show the controls matters as much as having them.

A multi-branch business needs more than completed customer checks. It also needs a current risk assessment and policy, visible staff scope and training, attributable transaction decisions, outstanding-work tracking and a clear escalation path. JUSTE keeps those controls visible alongside the client work.

Firm-wide risk assessment, current and version-tracked

Policy acknowledgement per person, per version

Training records captured as they happen, per branch

Customer and transaction due diligence retained with the relevant risk context

A pending-work queue with named owners and automatic reminders

One readiness score with branch-level detail underneath

Questions

What agencies ask first.

Who is this designed for?

JUSTE is designed for estate agency and lettings businesses that need to screen clients and transactions, apply a documented AML policy, manage additional due diligence and keep oversight consistent across branches.

When should the buyer be checked?

As early as your process and obligations allow. Starting the risk assessment early gives the business more time to resolve source-of-funds, ownership or other higher-risk issues before the transaction becomes time-critical.

Can branch staff run the checks themselves?

Designated staff members can carry out intake within the scope your business allows. Codified policy guardrails determine when additional evidence, approval or escalation is required.

What about overseas and corporate buyers?

KYB covers company verification, ultimate beneficial owners and representatives, with each relevant person screened and the structure recorded as one governed decision.

We have several branches. Does that work?

Yes. JUSTE can give central teams a firm-wide readiness view while retaining branch-level detail, named ownership of outstanding work and consistent policy guardrails across the business.

Start the AML record before the transaction becomes time-critical.

Start the free trial with a real buyer, seller or transaction, or book a demo and we will walk through branch intake, source-of-funds escalation and central oversight end to end.

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