Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.

Owner Impersonation Fraud Cases Highlight Risks in UK Property Market

Fraudsters are targeting the British property market by selling homes they do not own or through fake mortgage applications, according to a report by The Negotiator. Figures obtained under the Freedom of Information Act show there were 55 cases of criminals impersonating homeowners in a 12-month period.

The data, recorded by HM Land Registry between April 2025 and March 2026, highlights the ongoing threat of owner impersonation fraud. In these cases, fraudsters may attempt to sell a property to an unsuspecting buyer, take out a mortgage secured against it, or transfer ownership using forged documents.

Pete Gatenby, AI Practice Partner at Novus Strategy, noted that while owner impersonation fraud is rare, it is a high-impact crime. He also raised concerns that artificial intelligence can generate increasingly convincing fake documents, making them harder to detect with existing verification processes.

The report points out that no single organisation has full visibility of the entire property transaction process or a complete view of owner impersonation risk. HM Land Registry records suspected fraudulent registration applications, while Action Fraud tracks payment diversion cases. However, incidents involving forged identity documents or fraudulent conveyancer certification are not separately tracked, resulting in a fragmented landscape.

According to Novus Strategy, properties that are mortgage-free, rented out, or left empty for long periods are often considered particularly vulnerable to this type of fraud, as the genuine owner may be less likely to notice suspicious activity until it is too late.