UK brings in ownership register for property held by foreign companies

Pointless bureaucratic exercise, which typically in UK form, is full of loopholes, and is totally expensive to implement. The UK lacks a comprehensive database ability in order to cross-reference stuff...

Property ownership in the UK is recorded on the Land Registry. Japan needs and wants something similar, as it would help government officials deal with empty properties.

This works quite well for ordinary people. Rich people use offshore entities to obscure ownership. The new law is intended to stop this, but they will just pay surrogates to be cited on there or use fake identities.

The UK government specialises in window-dressing policies that make it look like are doing something about issues, without actually doing so.

Not just London. In Vancouver, another thoroughly globalized city, the province's attorney general says the government doesn't know who owns over half of the luxury properties.

It's called "city of strangers." Increasingly residents don't know their dodgy, shadowy and sometimes scary neighbors. Thanks, globalization!

How many empty properties in London's Borough of Kensington & Chelsea are owned by rich foreigners?

As long as the property taxes are being paid and the properties are not being used for illegal activities who cares?

In Vancouver, another thoroughly globalized city, the province's attorney general says the government doesn't know who owns over half of the luxury properties.

What does the trust deed or grant deed say?

One characteristic about land is that foreign deed holders cannot take the land with them back to their home country. They could just as well put their money in land in another place and contribute to the tax rolls in this other place. Is that what you would prefer? I get tired of the xenophobic bs surrounding foreign land ownership.

As long as the property taxes are being paid and the properties are not being used for illegal activities who cares?

Houses should not be treated like an investment product. So lots of people care. and government should care that there are difference between houses for living in and houses for renting out.

If they're going to let corporation owns houses, they should at least tax it (higher) accordingly, and remove any capital gains tax exemption.

The UK has been a haven to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.

RedstormToday  12:54 pm JST

Not anymore since Russia attacked Ukraine. They have their properties seized. Mansions, football clubs, yachts, bank accounts.

This is a little complex part of the English language:

*The UK has been a haven to sanctioned Russian oligarchs.*

They have their properties seized. Mansions, football clubs, yachts, bank accounts.

Maybe you mean their property has been temporarily frozen. If it has really been finally seized without any payments to the owners, that would simply be copying countries like China, Russia, Cuba, North Korea etc, as it would be completely contradicting to common procedures in capitalist countries like the UK is one or at least states to be one. Even the Nazis paid the Jews a small formal lump sum for the seized valuable properties. So I don’t believe that those Russian oligarchs get nothing or are left with empty hands.

There should be a Global rule or anyone with Assets over 10 Million US$ to have to report their assets Globally, or have them Seized.