Gove seeks to ‘lift veil of secrecy’ over land ownership in fresh fraud crackdown
The battle against fraud is at the centre of a fresh push by Michael Gove to root out a lack of transparency in property ownership.
The housing secretary revealed this week a consultation had been launched over the next eight weeks, which will make it clearer who owns land and property, and to “lift the veil of secrecy currently afforded to land-holding trusts.”
Trusts are used to own and manage land on behalf of a true owner and beneficiary, but current laws mean the identity of the ultimate owner does not always need to be made public.
The consultation will seek to make it easier for people to find out more about who owns land and property, in a bid to “help tackle illicit finance and corruption.”
In a foreword for the consultation, Gove said the government had been cracking down on alleged corruption and fraud, including “after Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, we stepped up our efforts again to drive dirty money out of the UK.”
Housing Secretary Michael Gove said: “It matters who really owns land and property. It matters for how and where we build our homes, grow our food, and power our country.”
“These proposals will lift the veil of secrecy currently afforded to land-holding trusts. Transparency about land ownership is crucial if we want to make our housing and land markets fairer. In its absence, injustices, corruption and crime can flourish.”
Minister for Enterprise, Markets and Small Business Kevin Hollinrake added that “there’s no place for fraud and other illegal activity in our society, so it’s fantastic so see the launch of this consultation which fulfils a government commitment and ensures more is being done to make the trust information held on the Register for Overseas Entities more transparent.”
“The Register for Overseas Entities is imperative in ensuring we weed out kleptocrats and oligarchs buying up British properties under false names and has already helped identify absent landlords so that they can be held to account.”
Industry bodies including British Land have been approached for comment.