Foreign investors are using illicit wealth to buy up property in luxury developments across London, out-pricing locals, according to a new anti-corruption report.
The UK anti-corruption organisation Transparency International (TI-UK) investigated the sale of 2,066 properties across 14 new developments in the capital to calculate the number of overseas buyers and the effect on the capital's housing crisis.
The report, called Faulty Towers: Understanding the impact of overseas corruption on the London property market, found that 80 per cent of these homes were bought by foreign investors from countries including Singapore, Hong Kong, China and Malaysia.
TI-UK also found that 40 per cent of these residences were bought by beneficiaries from high corruption risk jurisdictions or using a company registered in a secrecy haven ? suggesting it is likely that some of these properties were purchased with illicit wealth. Among the schemes investigated was South Gardens in Elephant Park, which is built on the site of the former Heygate Estate in the south of the capital. The report found that all 51 properties sold in this scheme to date have been bought by overseas investors.
The post-war housing block South Gardens replaces was previously home to more than 3,000 people, with 1,194 homes being socially rented. It was controversially demolished in 2014 as part of the £1.2 billion urban regeneration of the Elephant and Castle area.
Prices start at £569,000 for a studio ...