Question to the Department for Business and Trade:

To ask the Secretary of State for Business and Trade, what assessment he has made of the potential impact of the Economic Crime and Transparency Act 2023 on the number of properties owned by offshore companies.

The Department has not made a specific assessment of the impact of the Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Act 2023 on the number of properties owned by offshore companies. The Register of Overseas Entities was established and further strengthened through the Economic Crime Acts 2022 and 2023. It was designed to tackle the misuse of overseas corporate structures to own UK property anonymously, rather than legitimate overseas investment. Companies House's strategic intelligence assessment indicates that the register has significantly reduced anonymity and increased transparency around higher risk ownership. The Government will keep the effectiveness of the regime under review.