London's luxury property risk from Panama Papers

The Panama Papers debacle could potentially impact London’s luxury property market, if investors opt to rent rather than invest via offshore companies. Property experts say that this latest development reduces the shine of London's high-end central property market further, following after increased taxes, a slowdown in the oil and raw materials markets, and political announcements from London mayoral candidate, Sadiq Khan, who plans to introduce more stringent anti-money laundering checks. Around 2.8k companies set up by Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca are reportedly connected to over 6k title deeds on mostly London property, worth at least £7bn.

T he fragile top end of London’s property market could be dealt another blow by the torrent of leaks from Panama, a leading estate agent warned today.

Peter Wetherell, chief executive of Mayfair firm Wetherell, said potential buyers who would normally make their purchases through offshore companies may now decide to rent instead.

He said: “This latest Panama issue uncovers where wealthy people are putting or investing their money, so it going public is a massive loss of privacy for the people concerned. Some ultra wealthy may choose to rent rather than buy and face these types of politically sensitive offshore company issues.”

The high end of the central London market is already under pressure from huge increases in stamp duty and other property taxes as well as slumps in the oil and other raw materials markets.

The latest slew of disclosure from files leaked from Panamanian law firm Mossack Fonseca revealed the identities of some of the biggest investors in London property, including the prime ministers of Pakistan and Azerbaijan, Iraq’s former interim prime minister and the president of the Nigerian senate.

It was also revealed that a close association of Syrian president Bashar Assad used offshore companies to hold a portfolio of London homes, including a £1 million flat in St George Wharf in Vauxhall, a £1.2 million apartment at the Norman Foster-designed Albion Riverside building in Battersea and a £1.3 million home in St John’s Wood.

The biggest single owner was Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed Al Nahyan, the president of the United Arab Emirates, who has built up a £1.2 billion portfolio.

Labour’s mayoral candidate Sadiq Khan said: “These shocking revelations show we urgently need action to make the ownership of property in London more transparent.

“I’ll be pushing to guarantee that anti-money-laundering checks are carried out on the purchasers of property, not just the seller.”

In total around 2,800 companies set up by Mossack Fonseca are connected to more than 6,000 title deeds on British property — mostly in London — worth at least £7 billion, it has been reported.