World’s Rich Reveal How They Spend Their Billions on UK Property
Corporate titans, Gulf royalty and Russian tycoons all use offshore companies to buy UK real estate. The British government wants to know their names.
Swedish billionaire Stefan Persson owns several farms across England and an Edwardian manor house in the Hampshire village of Linkenholt.
Source: Google MapsThe gated mansions around St. George’s Hill boast sweeping driveways, indoor swimming pools and landscaped gardens, and are closely monitored by CCTV cameras and security staff. There are few hints of who lives there or owns the properties.
Much bigger clues are in the UK’s new register for overseas entities, part of a government effort to bring transparency to Britain’s property market, long a favored haven for the world’s ultra-rich. The register shows where foreign wealth has flowed, including to St. George’s Hill, a 960-acre (388-hectare) enclave near the town of Weybridge, south-west of London.