A world-first register launched to shed light on overseas property ownership in the UK now has more than 30,000 registrations.
The Register of Overseas Entities, 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, setting a global standard for transparency.
The register forms part of the government’s strategy to combat economic crime, while ensuring legitimate businesses continue to see the UK as a great place to invest.
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 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 crucial intelligence.
Director of Intelligence and Law Enforcement Liaison at Companies House, Martin Swain, 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.
Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake said:
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.
Notes to editors
The Register of Overseas Entities came into force in the UK on 1 August 2022 through the new Economic Crime (Transparency and Enforcement) Act 2022.
Overseas entities who want to buy, sell, or transfer property or land in the UK, must register with Companies House and declare who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are.
This also applies retrospectively to overseas entities who bought property or land on or after:
- 1 January 1999 in England and Wales
- 8 December 2014 in Scotland
These overseas entities had to register with Companies House and declare who their registrable beneficial owners or managing officers are by 31 January 2023.
Overseas entities only need to register property or land bought in Northern Ireland on or after 1 August 2022.
More information about the Companies House approach to Register of Overseas Entities enforcement.
The Register of Overseas Entities’ trust information is currently sent to Companies House in the expectation that the data will only be accessed by law enforcement and other relevant public agencies.
The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 provides a power for the Secretary of State to make regulations granting access to trust data on application in circumstances to be detailed in regulations.
The government will consult with stakeholders when developing these regulations.
