The number of properties held by foreign shell companies has been calculated and it is astonishing even after the government claimed to clamp down on it due to the invasion of Ukraine.
The Guardian reports that the true owners of more than 100,000 properties in England and Wales controlled via overseas shell companies are not public, despite the rules that came into force on 31 January, according to the report published by researchers from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), the University of Warwick and the Centre for Public Data.
The report also found that trusts were used to hold property in 63 per cent of those with obscured overseas ownership.
Properties held by foreign shell companies
“We still cannot know whether sanctioned individuals, money-launderers or other corrupt individuals may be benefiting from these properties,” the report found, which will leave people astonished.
Response
This response might chime with you.
Prem Sikka wrote: “Owners of 100,000 properties held by foreign shell companies unknown despite new UK laws. Trusts, lack of transparency/enforcement keeps dirty money flowing. Govt was told the law was flawed, didn’t listen. How many Tory cronies own these properties?”
Andy Summers, an associate professor at the LSE, said: “There is no point building a dam halfway across a river. These gaps are threatening the efficacy of the entire register and the government should close them at the earliest opportunity.”
Margaret Hodge tweeted: “New research shows, despite rules introduced last year, we still don’t know who owns over 100,000 properties. This leaves the door open to oligarchs & crooks to continue buying luxury properties to launder their dirty money and even to evade sanctions.
Related: The amount of central London properties paid for with cash is truly staggering
