Starting 14th May 2025, new regulations will introduce extra responsibilities for landlords and letting agents. These changes are part of efforts to strengthen compliance with the UK’s financial sanctions regime, helping to prevent sanctioned individuals or organisations from accessing the rental property market.

What’s changing?

Tenant Checks

Landlords and agents will now be required to:

Screen all prospective tenants (whether individuals or businesses) against the UK Sanctions List and the Consolidated List of Financial Sanctions Targets.
Avoid entering into or continuing agreements with anyone who appears on these lists.

If a tenant is found to be sanctioned:

The property must effectively be “frozen” (e.g., restrict access if rent is unpaid).
The case must be promptly reported to the Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation (OFSI).

Landlord Checks

Letting agents must also:

Verify that landlords they work with (individuals or companies) are not on the sanctions list.
Refrain from offering services that might provide financial benefit to a sanctioned landlord.

Non-compliance —even if accidental— could result in serious consequences, including criminal charges or civil financial penalties.

What Steps Have We Taken?

For Tenants, our referencing partner, Rightmove Landlord and Tenant Services, has added a sanctions check to the tenant referencing process. Any matches to the OFSI’s public lists will be reported immediately, and the application will not proceed.

We are also now required to carry out Know Your Customer (KYC) checks for all landlord and vendor clients. This includes holding information such as photographic ID of the Landlord, a recent utility bill acting as proof of address and evidence of ownership of the property you wish to let out.

For sellers, an additional Anti-Money Laundering (AML) check will be completed in line with estate agency legislation.

We have also created a process where this information, and evidence of the checks will be documented. Checks are also just a screenshot of the current situation, so we have invested in technology which checks the lists daily, and notifies us should anything change.

What Landlord’s Need to Do

If requested, co-operate with the agent and provide the requested information so that they can conduct this check, if they haven’t done so already. Failure to cooperate could lead to the service they provide you being withdrawn, as the risk is too great to the agent.

Need Help or Have Questions?

We’re here to support you through these changes. If you have any questions or need help gathering your documents, don’t hesitate to contact our experienced and trained property experts on 0161 511 5339 or complete our contact form.