“London’s housing market has become a “safe haven” for corrupt money from across the world that is contributing to the crisis in home ownership in the capital, a report has suggested.
An analysis of the ownership of more than 2,000 apartments in London housing developments has revealed that up to 80 per cent of new homes have been sold to overseas owners.
Transparency International, an anti-corruption group, said that it had found evidence that 1,616 of the homes in 14 developments it examined in central London had been bought by individuals or companies registered abroad, compared with 450 registered to Britons.
It added that 40 per cent of the purchases, totalling £1.6 billion, were bought by investors from countries with a “high risk” of corruption.
Duncan Hames, director of policy at the group, said: “While Londoners find themselves priced out of the capital, many new homes are left unused by wealthy investors based overseas”.”
Times (Paywall”
East Devon Watch 