Financial Sanctions guidance for Letting Agents

As from the14th May 2025, letting agents will be subject to reporting obligations in order to facilitate Office of Financial Sanctions Implementation OFSI’s aim of encouraging better sanctions compliance.

Why Letting Agents?

Letting Agents have been added to the list of “relevant firms” under financial sanctions regulations.  

Under financial sanctions regulations, a letting agent is described as “a firm or sole practitioner (“P”) that carries out, or whose employees carry out, letting agency work-

“Letting agency work” is defined as follows:

“letting agency work” means work—

(a). consisting of things done in response to instructions received from 

• (i) a person (a “prospective landlord”) seeking to find another person to whom to let land for a term of a month or more, or 

• (ii)a person (a “prospective tenant”) seeking to find land to rent for a term of a month or more, and

(b) done—  

• (i) in relation to a prospective landlord, from the point that the prospective landlord instructs P [i.e the letting agent], or 

• (ii) otherwise in the course of concluding an agreement for the letting of land for a term of a month or more.