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UK for sale
UK for sale: how the wealthy hold British
property via offshore firms
Exclusive: New register shines light on how
businessmen, Gulf royals and states such as China have spent billions through
offshore jurisdictions
by Rowena
Mason, Rob Davies and Henry Dyer
Fri 27 Jan
2023 14.45 GMT
The BBC
chair, Richard Sharp, more than 20 Conservative donors, a string of billionaire
businessmen and the Formula One driver Lewis Hamilton are among those who have
declared they own UK property through offshore jurisdictions, a Guardian
investigation has found.
The
declarations are made on the UK government’s new register of overseas entities,
brought in to increase transparency and help the tax authorities by showing the
ultimate owners of British property held offshore.
It shines a
light on how wealthy businessmen, Gulf royals and states such as China have
legally bought up billions of pounds of mostly London property, often via
jurisdictions such as the British Virgin Islands (BVI) and the Channel Islands.
Sharp, who
is under pressure over a loan secured by Boris Johnson, is the beneficial owner
of a £4m flat in London held through a Jersey-based trust.
A
spokesperson for Sharp said: “Mr Sharp is a UK citizen, UK domiciled and has
always been meticulous about always paying the full amount of tax here. The
flat in question is Richard’s elderly mother’s home.
“Like many
parents he has been thinking about how to provide for his children on his
death. This arrangement isn’t about a personal tax benefit to him as he pays
more UK tax under this arrangement, but about him planning for provision for
his children.”
Hamilton owns a £16.5m property in Kensington via the
BVI. His spokesperson said he gained no tax benefits from the arrangement.
Yoko Ono is
confirmed as the owner of her late husband John Lennon’s first home in
Wavertree, Liverpool, via a company incorporated in the US state of Delaware.
As of noon
on Friday the Companies House register listed 17,754 overseas entities, with
thousands more expected to register before the 31 January deadline. With 55% of
all overseas owners declared to date, the register shows that the royal
families of Gulf states including Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates and
Qatar own about £1bn of UK property via tax havens such as Jersey and the BVI.
It also
shows that the Chinese Investment Corporation, an arm of the Chinese
government, owns at least £580m of property through offshore entities, including
distribution centres vital for the flow of UK goods, such as food.
Chinese
investment in the UK has been a source of concern and division within the
government, with some MPs welcoming the flow of cash into Britain, while others
have raised security concerns about the role played by China and Chinese
companies in strategic assets.
The
Conservative donors on the register include two peers, Irvine Laidlaw, who
donated about £3.2m when the party was in opposition, and Stanley Fink, a
former party treasurer, who has given about £3.7m over 20 years. Fink owns part
of the St Pancras Renaissance hotel building through a Guernsey-based vehicle.
He said: “To the best of my knowledge and belief I have gained no tax benefits
from this structure whatsoever.” He said the deal had been structured like that
when he was given the opportunity to invest.
Laidlaw,
who is retired from the Lords, has a portfolio of offices and residential homes
held through at least nine Isle of Man-based companies. Laidlaw has not
responded to a request for comment.
Other Tory
donors with UK property held offshore include the billionaire Reuben brothers,
property developers with 106 vehicles spanning the BVI to Guernsey. A
spokesperson for Reuben Brothers said: “All the entities are all liable to UK
taxes and any taxes due have been paid in compliance with HMRC.”
Wafic Saïd,
the billionaire businessman and philanthropist who is credited with helping
Saudi Arabia buy British weapons in 1985 in the biggest arms deal in history,
known as al-Yamamah, is listed as one of the ultimate owners of a Bermuda
company that holds a commercial property in the City of London.
He said:
“As with many other foreign investors, my family hold some UK investments
through overseas companies. I am assured that is perfectly legal. In any case,
I am not resident in the UK and I am not a beneficiary of the trust which holds
this property.”
The
Guardian believes there is a public interest in reporting on the business
interests and property ownership structures of wealthy, politically connected
and influential people.
Three-quarters of the registered companies are based
in five jurisdictions: the BVI, Jersey, the Isle of Man, Guernsey and
Luxembourg.
Holding
properties through offshore companies is legal and some individuals may have
genuine and legitimate privacy or security concerns or business reasons for
using them. Experts say it can be done to minimise an individual’s tax
liability as the owner or buyer of a property, or, until now, to allow a
property to be held anonymously. Some investors also cite the stability of the
tax regime in jurisdictions such as Jersey and Guernsey as a reason their
companies are based there, or they may live abroad.
“Historically,
there have been some really great tax advantages from owning UK property via
offshore companies,” said Robert Palmer, the executive director of the campaign
group Tax Justice UK. “The government has closed down quite a lot of them but
there are still ways you can pay less tax by owning property via offshore
companies.”
Politicians
have taken action to make ownership of UK property through overseas companies
more expensive, imposing stamp duty of 15% and an annual charge of £3,800 to
£244,750 for the most expensive properties. However, despite these moves,
thousands of owners of UK-based property still hold their assets through
offshore jurisdictions.
Hundreds of
entries on the register do not reveal the beneficial owners of many overseas
companies because they are owned by secretive trusts based offshore. The
ultimate owners of these have been registered and are available to HMRC but not
the general public. Those named on the register have all complied with their
legal obligations declaring their ownership.
Reporting
team: Joseph Smith, Ben Quinn, Pamela Duncan, Carmen Aguilar García, Zeke
Hunter-Green, Sabina Bejasa-Dimmock
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