From 14th May 2025, all commercial and residential lettings agents in the UK are required to comply with UK financial sanctions regulations. This means you must verify that neither your tenants or landlords are on the UK’s financial sanctions list before entering into any agreements. The UK government has introduced these changes to improve national security and prevent financial crime, including money laundering and financing of terrorism.
Manual checks can be performed using the UK Sanctions List search which is available online here and is also linked directly from the system: https://search-uk-sanctions-list.service.gov.uk/
Searches should be performed carefully and evidence of each check should be recorded; searches can produce false positive results, so any possible or partial matches need to be appropriately investigated.
If you find that a tenant or landlord is on the sanctions list, you must stop the transaction immediately. More information on this transition available on the Government website, here: https://www.gov.uk/guidance/moving-to-a-single-list-for-uk-sanctions-designations-28-january-2026
Recording Sanctions Checks
The system allows you to track whether these checks have been completed. You can record details under Landlord > Edit or Tenant > Edit Management Details under the 'Sanctions Checks' section:
There is also a central alert under Alerts > Lettings Management > Sanctions Checks Due, which will flag up tenants or landlords who have not been checked.
Tenants will appear on the alert when a property offer is accepted or they are added to a letting starting after the 14th May. Landlords, when a property or letting is added, again after the 14th May.
These checks are also an ongoing process rather than a one off, so they will reappear in the Sanctions Checks Due alert after a configurable period of time (the default is after 12 months).
The links below provide more information on this important topic:
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