Cyber attacks against UK property businesses saw a 17% increase last year, with 208 incidents reported in 2025, up from 178 the previous year. This rise, based on Information Commissioner’s Office (ICO) data analysed by Karis Insurance, indicates that estate agents and property managers are increasingly becoming targets.
Property businesses handle significant amounts of sensitive information, including passports, driving licences, home addresses, bank details, mortgage information, and tenancy records. This data makes them attractive to cyber criminals for potential identity theft, ransomware attacks, or sale to other criminals.
Criminals can also exploit compromised emails or transaction details to carry out payment diversion fraud, redirecting funds by replacing legitimate bank details with their own. Ravi Sejpal, director of insurance at Karis Insurance, noted that many property businesses hold as much client detail as banks but often lack bank-level data security.
The property industry's increasing reliance on digital systems for transactions, customer verification, and property management is expanding the volume of sensitive information that could be exposed in a security breach. Karis Insurance suggests that agencies need to evaluate how they protect customer information and respond to system compromises.