Buying a home is the single largest financial transaction most people will ever make. Yet the process surrounding it still asks buyers and sellers to prove who they are multiple times, to multiple parties, often through the same checks. As fraud grows more sophisticated and technology more capable, the UK property industry needs to ask a simple question: why are we still doing it this way?
The problem with Identity Verification in the property chain
Ask anyone who has recently bought or sold a home, and you will hear the same story. You prove who you are to the estate agent. Then to the conveyancer. Then to the mortgage lender. Then possibly to a second solicitor acting for the other side of the chain. The same documents, the same checks, the same process repeated four, five, sometimes six times across a single transaction.
Each party in the property chain operates under its own regulatory obligations. Because those obligations are not shared or interoperable, each defaults to running their own identity and AML checks from scratch. The result is duplicated effort that slows transactions, frustrates buyers and sellers, and creates a compliance burden that benefits nobody.
This is not just an inconvenience. It is a structural inefficiency at the heart of the UK homebuying process. And it is one of the central challenges explored in the first episode of Beyond the Check: Brick by Brick, a new podcast series from Credas that opens up the real conversations shaping the future of property transactions.
“Each party in the chain cannot rely on the identification that another party has already done. They have to go back out and make sure everything has come from the right place.”
In Episode 1, we are joined by David Powell, CEO of Andrews Estate Agents Group, to discuss why the property compliance process works the way it does, where it is failing, and what genuine reform looks like in practice.
How the UK homebuying process became this complex
The legal framework underpinning residential property transactions in England and Wales was established more than a century ago. Since then, anti-money laundering regulations, expanded lender requirements, and increasingly complex title structures have added significant obligations to every transaction.
The UK Government’s own analysis found that the conveyancing process now takes around 60% longer than it did in 2007. The average residential transaction takes around five months from offer to completion. One in three transactions falls through before it reaches exchange, often at significant financial and emotional cost to everyone involved.
The number of qualified conveyancers has fallen by 15% since 2021, even as transaction volumes and compliance requirements have grown. The system is under real strain. And while the Government has signalled ambitions to reduce straightforward transactions to as little as four weeks, no single policy change will achieve that without broader reform of how compliance is handled across the chain.
The homebuying and selling reform consultation released in October 2025 stated there’s now a longer conveyancing process vs 2007, taking on average 60% longer. The Conveyancing Association also released figures that 1 in 3 property transactions fall through before completion, signalling a long and difficult process. Ochresoft also published figures stating it takes on average 120 days from conveyancer instruction to completion of a home.
Property fraud in the UK is growing, and AI is making it worse
Duplicated identity checks would be tolerable if they reliably prevented fraud. The reality is more complicated. The UK property sector is one of the highest-value targets for financial crime, and the methods used by fraudsters are becoming harder to detect.
UK fraud reached a record high in recent years, with identity fraud accounting for the majority of reported cases. According to Cifas, over 72% of all fraud filings are linked to identity fraud or account takeover. AI tools are now being used to fabricate convincing identity documents in minutes, create synthetic identities, and impersonate real individuals through deepfake video and audio.
The property sector is particularly exposed. High transaction values, long completion timelines, and chains involving multiple parties all create opportunities for fraud. Impersonation of sellers, fraudulent source of funds documentation, and interception of completion funds are all active risks in today’s market.
Research by Credas found that 62% of consumers still send identity documents by email during property transactions, and one in ten use WhatsApp. Neither channel provides a secure audit trail, encryption at rest, or any control over where documents are stored or forwarded. In a market where AI can manipulate images and produce convincing forgeries, these practices carry real risk for agents, conveyancers and their clients.
Estate agents and conveyancers carry compliance responsibility here. Failure to carry out adequate AML checks, or relying on insecure document submission processes, can result in regulatory action and reputational damage. Getting identity verification right is not just good practice. It is a legal requirement.
How technology can reduce friction and improve compliance
Technology will not fix the property transaction process on its own. But the right technology, deployed to the right standard, can remove significant friction while strengthening compliance. The two do not have to be in conflict.
Credas enables property professionals to carry out ID verification, AML checks, source of funds checks, PEPs and sanctions screening, and document capture through a single, secure platform. Clients complete verification through a simple three-step process using the Credas app or web browser. Results are delivered in real time, stored securely in line with GDPR requirements, and made available to the agent as a downloadable audit trail.
The Credas Compliance Wallet, launched in late 2025, goes a step further. It enables verified client data to be reused securely across the property chain, with the client’s explicit consent. Rather than each party starting the compliance process from scratch, verified data travels with the transaction, reducing delays and removing duplication.
Separately, Nationwide became the first UK lender to accept mortgage deeds signed using Qualified Electronic Signatures in late 2025, removing another bottleneck from the conveyancing process. The direction of travel is clear. The industry is moving towards digital, shared, standardised compliance. The question for individual firms is when they join that movement, not whether.
What this means for estate agents
Estate agents sit at the front of the transaction chain. They are typically the first to request identity from buyers and sellers, and the first to make an impression on clients about how the process will feel. Getting compliance right at the outset sets the tone for everything that follows.
In practical terms, this means having a verification process that is fast, clear and easy for clients to complete. First-time buyers, in particular, benefit from straightforward guidance and simple digital steps. With close to 40% of all property transactions in 2025 involving first-time buyers, the onboarding experience matters more than ever.
Agents who invest in robust, standards-compliant identity and AML processes upstream create the conditions for faster transactions and fewer fall-throughs. When verified compliance data can be shared with conveyancers and lenders rather than duplicated, the whole chain moves more efficiently. In a competitive market, that efficiency is a genuine commercial differentiator.
There is also a risk management dimension. Agents who rely on informal verification processes, unencrypted document sharing or non-certified technology are exposed to regulatory scrutiny. HMRC supervises estate agents for AML compliance and can impose significant penalties where standards are not met. Using a certified IDSP like Credas provides a defensible, auditable record of due diligence.
The bigger picture: shared standards and industry collaboration
Fixing the UK property transaction process requires more than better technology in individual firms. It requires the industry to share. Share verified data, share compliance standards, and share the responsibility for verification so that buyers and sellers do not bear the burden of it repeatedly.
That requires trust between parties who have often operated independently and sometimes as competitors. It requires governance frameworks that make shared compliance data safe and reliable. And it requires leadership from organisations across the chain, from estate agents and conveyancers to lenders and regulators, who are willing to commit to common standards rather than proprietary approaches.
The policy environment is moving in the right direction. The Data (Use and Access) Act 2025 established the legislative basis for certified digital identity services. The Government has published reform proposals for the homebuying process that explicitly address identity verification and data sharing. The Law Commission has recommended reforms to conveyancing practice. These are real signals that systemic change is on the agenda.
Credas is already building the infrastructure that makes this possible. Through our certified IDSP status, our Compliance Wallet, and our integrations with conveyancing platforms and lenders, we are helping the property industry move from fragmented, manual compliance towards a model that is faster, more secure and better for everyone in the chain.
Watch episode 1: Beyond the Check
In Episode 1 of Beyond the Check: Brick by Brick, we are joined by David Powell, CEO of Andrews Estate Agents Group, for a frank, practical conversation covering the compliance challenges Estate Agents face today.
