Mayor seeks crackdown on overseas ownership

Sadiq Khan wants the Government to stem the flow of Russian "dirty money" into London by setting up a register for overseas property ownership. The mayor of London has called on Westminster to take action to stop the capital from being used for international money laundering. "Ministers have turned a blind eye to the use of our capital city as a safe harbour for corrupt funds, which is having a negative impact on our international reputation for transparency and our local housing market," he said. Almost a quarter of a million properties in England and Wales are now registered with buyers based abroad. There were fewer than 88,000 in 2010. Westminster has more properties in this category than any other local authority but other London boroughs including Tower Hamlets, Kensington, Wandsworth, Southwark and Lambeth have also had strong growth over the past decade. There are 85,451 property titles held by foreign owners in the capital.

The Sunday Times (06/02/2022)