# Property in the UK: a home for corrupt money URL: https://www.transparency.org/en/news/property-in-the-uk-a-home-for-corrupt-money Type: News Published: 2015-03-04 Updated: 2022-09-08 --- 04 March 2015 It is well-known that the [global rich are buying up large parts](https://www.vanityfair.com/style/society/2013/04/mysterious-residents-one-hyde-park-london) of London. But who they really are and where their money comes from is too often a well-kept secret. They use [secret offshore companies](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/why-we-need-to-know-who-really-owns-a-company) to buy the properties and don’t disclose their identities. These secret companies (or shell companies) are a common way for moving corrupt money around the world. They can hide money that corrupt politicians divert from investments in schools and hospitals and they can hide the proceeds of other crimes. The corrupt are helped to buy properties by lawyers, accountants and estate agents who do not ask where the money is coming from – which by law in most countries, including the UK, they are supposed to do. Today Transparency International UK is publishing Corruption on your doorstep: How corrupt capital is used to buy property in the UK. This investigation of the London land registries shows just how extensive the use of secret offshore companies is to buy property: - **36,342** properties covering 2.2 square miles (5.7 square kilometres) of London – an area twice the size of London’s financial district – are owned by shell companies. - **75 per cent** of UK properties that are currently being investigated because of corruption are registered in [secret safe havens](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/stop-the-secrecy-in-the-sun). There is growing evidence that the UK property market has become a safe haven for corrupt capital stolen from around the world, facilitated by the laws which allow UK property to be owned by secret offshore companies.” – Robert Barrington, executive director, Transparency International UK Transparency International UK has created a visual story of the journey corrupt funds take from origin country to the British real estate market on its ukunmaskthecorrupt.org website. It is launching a petition to call for transparency over who owns the companies that own so much property in the UK. **You can sign the petition here:** [**End Corrupt Money in UK Property**](https://you.38degrees.org.uk/) Become part of the movement to stop the secrecy that helps the corrupt use their ill-gotten gains to fund luxury lifestyles. Help us Unmask the Corrupt. Tweet your support using the hashtags [\#DoorstepCorruption](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DoorstepCorruption?src=hash) [\#OffshoreLondon](https://twitter.com/hashtag/OffshoreLondon?src=hash) How do the world's corrupt funds end up in UK property? Follow the money: ukunmaskthecorrupt.org #DoorstepCorruption **Unmask the Corrupt is a global campaign by Transparency International to force governments to outlaw the use of shell companies by introducing public registries of the real owners. It is also calling for tighter controls on the facilitators of corrupt deals to ensure that anyone who sells luxury goods, including properties, reports suspicious transactions**. > How do the world's corrupt funds end up in UK property? Follow the money: [\#DoorstepCorruption](https://twitter.com/hashtag/DoorstepCorruption?src=hash) via [@TransparencyUK](https://twitter.com/TransparencyUK) > > — Transparency Int'l (@anticorruption) [March 4, 2015](https://twitter.com/anticorruption/status/573041818050408448) ## Countries - [United Kingdom](https://www.transparency.org/en/countries/united-kingdom) For any press inquiries please contact ### You might also like... ## [Financial intelligence units: Powerful tools against corruption if governments let them work](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/financial-intelligence-units-powerful-tools-against-corruption) News • 24 June 2026 Financial intelligence units can help expose corrupt money flows – but only if governments give them the powers, access and independence to do the job. ## [Dirty money still has an address: Unveiling the Opacity in Real Estate Ownership Index](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/unveiling-opacity-in-real-estate-ownership-index) News • 26 March 2025 Transparency International and the Anti-Corruption Data Collective have ranked 24 jurisdictions on their ability to protect property markets from illicit funds. ## [CPI 2024: Trouble at the top](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2024-trouble-at-the-top) News • 11 February 2025 Many top-scoring countries in this year's CPI are prime targets for corrupt actors to launder and safeguard their ill-gotten wealth. ## [CPI 2024 for Western Europe & EU: Leaders’ hollow efforts cause worsening corruption levels](https://www.transparency.org/en/news/cpi-2024-western-europe-eu-leaders-hollow-efforts-cause-worsening-corruption-levels) News • 11 February 2025 In fragile times, Europe's ability to combat corruption is falling short, hindering the bloc’s response to challenges that range from the climate crisis to fraying rule of law and…