Overseas property ownership register hits 30,000 milestone

The Register of Overseas Entities has hit the 30,000 registration milestone.

The register, which is administered by Companies House, came into force in the UK on 1 August 2022 and requires anonymous foreign owners of UK property to reveal their real identities or face a fine.

The first financial penalties were issued in July.

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

Martin Swain, director of intelligence and law enforcement liaison at Companies House, said: “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.” 

Kevin Hollinrake, Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business, added:  “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.” 

Meanwhile, the Government has launched a consultation setting out plans to improve the transparency of trust information. 

Land ownership through a trust means someone legally owns and manages the land on behalf of the true owner and beneficiary. Currently, the identity of the beneficiary is not always recorded or publicly available, potentially leading to secrecy or corruption in the sector.  
The new plans will mean residents, the media and the public will be able to find out more about who owns land and property, who can control it and receives financial benefit from it. 

Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “It matters who really owns land and property. It matters for how and where we build our homes, grow our food, and power our country.

“These proposals will lift the veil of secrecy currently afforded to land-holding trusts. 

“Transparency about land ownership is crucial if we want to make our housing and land markets fairer. In its absence, injustices, corruption and crime can flourish.”

The consultation runs for eight weeks and seeks views on widening access to trust information held on the Register of Overseas Entities and on how ownership of land involving trusts can be made more transparent.