Question to the HM Treasury:

To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer, what recent estimate she has made of the number of property management companies that have (a) delivered services for and (b) made payments on behalf of sanctioned individuals for the (i) maintenance and (ii) management of property in the UK.

OFSI has not made an estimate for the information requested but robustly enforces UK sanctions where breaches are identified. OFSI imposed a penalty in September 2024 against a firm for breaches of Russia sanctions relating to property management.

Through OFSI’s enhanced capabilities and increased collaboration between government agencies, OFSI is able identify breaches proactively and is not reliant on self-reported breaches.

Since February 2022, just over 1% of all suspected breach reports submitted to OFSI were reported by property and related services firms. Meanwhile, 7% of all suspected breaches reported to OFSI by other types of firms involved property and related services firms in some capacity.

OFSI is taking concrete action to increase sanctions awareness within the sector, through direct engagement with the sector and publication of its Threat Assessment Report and guidance for letting agents.

For the Threat Assessment Report, click here: OFSI_Property_and_Related_Services_Threat_Assessment.pdf

For OFSI’s letting agents guidance, click here: Financial sanctions guidance for letting agents - GOV.UK