Asked by: Lord Morris of Aberavon (Labour - Life peer)
Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:
To ask Her Majesty's Government what estimate, if any, they have made of the number of purchases of new build properties on the south bank of the Thames by foreign buyers in each of the last three years; and whether they intend to review the duties placed on property lawyers to investigate the source of funding for property purchases.
Answered by Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth
Regarding property purchase on the South Bank of the Thames the Government does not hold the data requested. However, recent research reports from the LSE and York University show that, in London, between 13-20 per cent of new builds were sold to individual foreign investors. The Government recognises concerns in some regions about the impact foreign purchase of property have on the availability of property for UK residents and is keeping the situation under review.
The Government is committed to ensuring that the UK property market is hostile to illicit finance whilst ensuring burdens on legitimate businesses are minimised. Legal professionals involved in the buying and selling of real property are covered by UK money-laundering regulations and must conduct customer due diligence checks, including identifying and verifying their clients and conducting on-going monitoring, including, where necessary, checking the source of funds. The regulations were comprehensively updated in 2017 and we’ll continue to keep them under review.