UK property worth £6bn bought using suspicious funds

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Almost £6bn of suspicious funds have been channelled through companies registered in the British Overseas Territories to purchase UK properties since 2016, new analysis has revealed.

The research from campaign group Transparency International UK found that 494 UK properties worth a total of £5.9bn had been purchased through organisations registered in the overseas territories over the past eight years.

According to TI, each property included was either owned by an individual who was politically exposed from a high-corruption-risk jurisdiction; had been sanctioned by the UK government since the purchase; or was subsequently charged or convicted with, or alleged to have committed, financial crime offences.

The British Virgin Islands were found to be the origin of more than 90 per cent of the funds, equivalent to £5.5bn in value, which led to the purchase of 475 properties, mostly in London.

The data was compiled from a combination of court documents, and land registry and corporate data in addition to leaks such as the Pandora Papers and is broken down by parliamentary constituency.

TI estimated that the new figures regarding the British Overseas Territories brought the total amount of suspect funds invested in UK property since 2016 to £11.1bn.

Margot Mollat, senior policy manager at TI UK, said that the research highlighted “the Overseas Territories’ role as global hubs for suspicious and illicit wealth”.

“The secrecy provided by these jurisdictions has made them destinations of choice for corrupt individuals seeking to conceal criminal acts and enjoy the proceeds of their crimes with impunity,” she added.

The constituency of Cities of London and Westminster saw the highest value of properties purchased, with a total of £3.61bn having been invested in 224 buildings since 2016.

This was followed by Kensington and Bayswater, where 83 properties worth a total of £1.1bn were purchased over the period.

Joe Powell MP, who was elected to represent the constituency in July, recently led a cross-party group of MPs in writing to the foreign secretary urging him to crack down on tax evasion in the territories.

The letter asked foreign secretary David Lammy to press for the speedier establishment of public registers of beneficial ownership in the territories. The MPs argued that publishing the registers, which record who ultimately owns or controls a company, would better enable investigators to follow money held offshore to uncover economic crime.

Although some territories such as Montserrat have introduced registers, others such as the Cayman Islands and British Virgin Islands have delayed doing so until June 2025.

Powell, who also chairs the All-Party Parliamentary Group for Anti-Corruption and Responsible Tax, said that “dirty money in London property exacerbates the housing crisis, hollows out communities and is bad for democracy”.

“[We need] full transparency over property shielded in trusts, public registers of company ownership in the Overseas Territories and Crown Dependencies and for UK enforcement agencies to step up their investigations,” he added.

A spokesperson for the BVI said it was “unwavering in its commitment to combating money laundering, tax evasion and all forms of illicit financial activity.

“In partnership with the UK government, the BVI has established a dedicated sanctions unit to ensure compliance with international financial sanctions. Additionally, we are advancing efforts to enhance transparency by preparing to provide access to beneficial ownership information in cases where a legitimate interest is demonstrated,” they added.