Estate agents are some of the most entrepreneurial business owners in the UK.
You outsource photography, EPCs, floorplans, conveyancing quotes, even social media management, because it’s smart. It saves time, ensures quality, and lets your team focus on what they do best: winning instructions and closing sales.
But there’s one thing many still try to handle in-house.
And it’s the one thing that could shut that business down overnight.
What the reform has made crystal clear is that estate agents are at the epicentre of the next big shift in the property market.
The problem: treating AML as a side-of-desk activity
Walk into most estate agency offices and ask who’s responsible for AML compliance. The answer is usually “Oh, we all do it.” Someone on the branch team checks ID, another uploads documents, maybe someone else files the report. It’s ad hoc, inconsistent, and all too often, wrong.
And let’s be precise about what “in-house” usually means:
- Manual, in-house: photocopied passports, ad hoc document chasing, informal notes, inconsistent record-keeping.
- “Digital, in-house” with a simple app: an ID app that does a digital identity check and maybe a PEPs & sanctions screen. Useful? Yes. Sufficient? No.
Those steps are pieces of the job. They are not the job. AML isn’t a single check; it’s a risk-based process that weighs context, applies proportionate controls, and documents judgement against the full set of mandatory risk areas, not just identity and sanctions.
At Coadjute, we cover all 34 checks and deliver a fully managed outsourced service. Many lightweight apps do a small slice and market it as “an AML solution.” It isn’t.
The comparison: every other specialist task is outsourced
Think about it:
- You don’t ask your negotiator to file company accounts. You use an accountant.
- You don’t ask your valuer to write contracts. You use a solicitor.
- You don’t ask your branch staff to design marketing material. You use professionals.
So why, when it comes to Anti-Money Laundering compliance, one of the most regulated, high-risk responsibilities in your business, are so many agents trying to DIY their way through it?
You wouldn’t take out a mortgage without advice from a broker.
You wouldn’t rely on an untrained staff member to certify ID for a mortgage lender.
So why rely on them (or a basic ID app) to make risk-based AML judgements that could result in a £50,000+ fine or worse?
The hidden cost of DIY AML
“Doing it ourselves” doesn’t mean “doing it for free.” It means:
- Lost sales time: every minute spent chasing ID or proof of funds is a minute not spent winning instructions.
- Inconsistent outcomes: different branches, staff, or systems = different standards.
- Hidden risk: the more fragmented the process, the greater the chance of gaps, omissions, and failed audits.
- Staff stress and retention: branch teams didn’t join estate agency to interpret regulation, they joined to sell homes.
And when mistakes happen – and they do, it’s your business, your brand, and your licence on the line.
The “ID app = AML” myth (let’s debunk it)
A digital ID check is not AML. A PEPs & sanctions result is not AML. A couple of bank statements in a portal is not AML. These are inputs to an AML decision, not the decision itself.
AML requires you to assess risk across 34 areas, apply proportionate controls, and evidence your reasoning for this client, this money, this transaction. That means beneficial ownership and complex structures, jurisdictions and delivery channels, funding patterns and third-party payers, ongoing monitoring, record integrity, and much more, all end-to-end.
A lightweight tool cannot do that for you. Coadjute’s fully managed service does, across all 34 checks, so your team isn’t left guessing where the gaps are.
The better way: professionalising AML like every other service
Banks, legal firms, accountants – every other regulated sector has either in-house compliance experts or specialist outsourced partners. They treat AML as a professional discipline, not an admin burden.
Estate agents now have the same opportunity. With the September 2025 guidance setting out 34 mandatory checks, and the FCA expected to take over supervision in the coming years, the smart move is to professionalise before you’re forced to.
That means:
1. Outsourcing AML to trained specialists who live and breathe regulation (and can shoulder the operational load and liability with clear SLAs).
2. Ensuring your Business Risk Assessment, Policies, and Procedures are live, accurate, and defensible, mapped to all 34 checks.
3. Freeing your staff to focus on what they do best – selling homes, not interpreting regulation.
The mindset shift: from admin to assurance
This isn’t about ticking boxes; it’s about protecting your business.
When AML is handled professionally, it becomes a source of assurance, for your vendors, your buyers, your partners, and regulators.
DIY AML- manual or “digital with a simple ID app” belongs to a different era. It worked when expectations were lower. It doesn’t work now.
The takeaway
If you’re still handling AML in-house, ask yourself whether you DIY your accounts? Your legal work? Your EPCs?
If you don’t, then why AML – the one area that could cost you your business?
It’s time to stop treating AML as admin and start treating it as assurance.
Professionalise it.
Outsource it.
And focus your time where it counts – on winning instructions, not fighting fines.
Coadjute – We make compliance simple, transactions faster, and your clients happier.
That’s what it means to give you as agents more agency.
