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Compliance and safety
Does a letting agent have to register with HMRC for money laundering supervision: the 10,000 euros a month test and the fees worked
GOV.UK says HMRC supervises letting agency work at 10,000 euros a month. Application £300, £400 per premises: year-one and renewal costs worked.
A letting agent handles other people's rent and sees who is paying for a tenancy, which is why the money laundering rules reach lettings. The question an agency owner asks is plain: do we have to register, and what does it cost? GOV.UK answers both, in two pages.
What GOV.UK says about who must register
The "who needs to register" page says HMRC supervises letting agency businesses that rent "property or land valued at the equivalent of 10,000 euros or more a month". You must register if you carry out letting agency activity by way of business and are not already supervised by the FCA or a professional body. The page says that on 23 August 2023 transaction values were added for letting agency businesses, and that if their activities exceed these values they must register for supervision by HMRC.
Trading without registering is a criminal offence, and the page says you may face a penalty or prosecution. It also says that other businesses can trade while an application is processed, so you do not wait for confirmation before you trade. Check the Supervised Business Register to see whether a business is already on it.
Putting the 10,000 euros into pounds
The page gives the threshold in euros and no pound figure, and it does not name an exchange rate. For a rough check only, we assumed 1 euro = £0.85. That rate is our assumption, so replace it with the rate you use.
| Step | Working | Result |
|---|---|---|
| Threshold in pounds a month | 10,000 x 0.85 | £8,500 |
| Threshold in pounds a year | 8,500 x 12 | £102,000 |
| A £1,400 a month flat as a share of the threshold | 1,400 / 8,500 | about 16% |
| A £4,250 a month house as a share of the threshold | 4,250 / 8,500 | 50% |
Check: 10,000 x 0.85 = 8,500 and 8,500 x 12 = 102,000. On our reading the test looks at the value of the property rented, which is why the table compares single rents. We did not read how HMRC counts the 10,000 euros across several lets or what the added transaction values are, so ask HMRC before you decide an agency is outside the rules.
What registration costs
The registration fees page lists these figures for letting agency businesses:
- Application fee: £300, one-off and non-refundable.
- Premises fee: £400 for each premises in the application.
- Annual declaration (renewal) fee: £400 for each premises shown on the application.
- Approval process fee: £40 for each person tested.
| Offices | Year one (£300 + £400 each) | Renewal each year (£400 each) |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | £700 | £400 |
| 2 | £1,100 | £800 |
| 3 | £1,500 | £1,200 |
Check: 300 + 400 = 700; 300 + 800 = 1,100; 300 + 1,200 = 1,500. If two people are tested, add 2 x £40 = £80, so one office costs £780 in year one. The page does not say who counts as a person tested, so confirm with HMRC.
What an agent can do this week
- Write down every property you manage and its monthly rent, then compare the biggest against your own pound figure for the threshold.
- Check the Supervised Business Register, and whether the FCA or a professional body already supervises the agency.
- If you must register, list each office, because the fee is per premises.
- Compare this cost with the others in our guide to redress, client money protection and ICO fees, and with the PRS database and ombudsman checks for agents.
What we did not read
We did not read the Money Laundering Regulations themselves, the penalties and appeals guidance, what customer checks an agent must run after registering, how the added transaction values work, or any rule on a current exchange rate. Check these with HMRC before you rely on this page.
Where Overlyft 
fits
Overlyft can set up AI staff who join your lettings team and take the job of keeping a list of each property and its monthly rent, flagging the ones near the threshold and diarising the yearly renewal. A person in your office approves every flag and every filing.
This is general information for England, not tax or legal advice.
Where this comes from: GOV.UK, Money laundering regulations: who needs to register, and GOV.UK, Money laundering regulations: registration fees; both read 27 October 2026.
AEO Lookup editorial team
We write practical guides for people who run small UK firms, and we check every fact against its source on the date shown. Read how we review, or tell us if something has changed.
