Foreign owners of UK properties to be identified in new register
Oligarchs and kleptocrats will no longer be able to hide their ownership of property through companies based in overseas territories, the business secretary said on Monday, but refused to give a date for when the change would come into force.
In a move brought forward by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, Kwasi Kwarteng said there would be a register showing the ultimate beneficial ownership of foreign-owned UK properties – a move that was first promised under David Cameron.
He also revealed new powers to seize crypto assets under economic crime legislation that will be brought forward on Tuesday.
Kwarteng said the legislation would “send a clear warning to those who have or who are thinking about using the UK property market to launder ill-gotten gains, particularly those linked to the Putin regime.”
Labour welcomed the measures outlined by Kwarteng but criticised years of “government inaction”. Seema Malhotra, the shadow business minister, supported the measures “in light of the atrocities we are seeing in Ukraine”, but added: “He will know that Labour, and indeed some on his own side, have been calling for measures the government has announced for years.
“We were first promised this legislation in 2016, and in fact this draft legislation has been ready since 2018. While we support the government’s actions today, he needs to take responsibility for the time and progress lost through government inaction.”
However, a series of MPs expressed frustration that there was no immediate move to reform Companies House, the register of company ownership, which will only be discussed in a white paper.
Margaret Hodge, the Labour MP, said she was “dismayed that all we are getting is a white paper”, saying there was an extensive consultation a
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