Foreign ownership property registration scheme hailed...

A register launched to shed light on overseas property ownership in the UK now has over 30,000 registrations.

The Register of Overseas Entities, which is administered by Companies House, came into force in the UK in August 2022 and requires anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities.

The Register forms part of the government’s strategy to combat economic crime.

Companies House is continuing to work with overseas company registries and UK land registries to identify entities which have failed to comply with the rules.

The first financial penalties were issued in July and a statement from the government says Companies House continues to be vigilant in enforcing compliance.

As well as financial penalties, overseas entities which fail to register will find it difficult to sell, lease or raise charges over their land.

Companies House is also working closely with law enforcement partners to aid their investigations and, where possible, provide intelligence.

A Companies House spokesperson says: “Reaching 30,000 registrations is a significant milestone but also a positive sign that the Register is achieving its objective of enhancing transparency of ownership of land and property in the UK by foreign entities.

“Our focus remains on continuing to improve the register and rigorously enforcing compliance, so this transparency is maintained and enhanced yet further.

“We will continue to scrutinise information on the Register and will be vigilant in targeting individuals who attempt to avoid transparency. We will also ensure that we are proactively supporting our law enforcement colleagues to disrupt the use of UK property to hide illicit wealth.”

And Kevin Hollinrake - founder of Hunters agency chain and now a Tory MP and Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business - says: “The Register for Overseas Entities is imperative in ensuring we weed out kleptocrats and oligarchs buying up British properties under false names and has already helped identify absent landlords so that they can be held to account.

“There is no place for fraud and other illegal activities in our society, so it is fantastic to see we’ve now had 30,000 registrations on the register, helping us to protect our citizens, business owners and bring criminals operating in the UK to justice.”