What three luxury homes reveal about who owns UK property
Owners of around 50,000 UK properties held by foreign companies remain hidden from public view, despite new transparency laws.
As a result, under a law passed in February 2022 in response to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, ministers said anonymous foreign companies seeking to buy UK land or property would be required to reveal full details of the individuals who ultimately owned them. Overseas organisations that already owned land in the UK were given a six-month period to do the same.
To understand how the law is and isn't working, it helps to look at three very expensive properties. The first is a pair of luxury apartments. Another is a sprawling £48m estate in north London, the third a £10m country mansion.For instance, look at the two luxury flats in central London worth an estimated £11m.
Mr Shuvalov's spokesperson told the BBC last year that these issues "have been the subject of competent government audits", and that "no complaints were ever filed". The owner is given as Hanley Limited, an Isle of Man company. And in turn the beneficial owner of Hanley Limited is Swiss company Pomerol Capital SA, which controls it as part of a trust structure.That is because companies owned through trusts - as opposed to other set-ups - are exempt from having their beneficial owner information made public on the register.
Overseas companies with property in the UK - bought since January 1999 in England and Wales and since December 2014 in Scotland - were supposed to reveal the identity of their owners by 31 January. The BBC's investigation has identified more than 1,800 companies whose filings do not appear to do so. Companies House records show that Uart International lists another foreign firm as its "person of significant control". This means that the individuals who ultimately own the property remain hidden from the public register, despite the change in the legislation.
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