Property: Ownership

(asked on 20th December 2022) - View Source

Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, if he will make an assessment with Cabinet colleagues of the potential impact of property ownership by citizens of countries considered to pose a threat to national security on national security.


Answered by
Tom Tugendhat Portrait
Tom Tugendhat
Minister of State (Home Office) (Security)
This question was answered on 12th January 2023

We take any threats to national security extremely seriously. The 2020 National Risk Assessment considered that the property market faced a high risk from money laundering. This included an assessment that since 2017 law enforcement have seen an increase in overseas based buyers under investigation and that corrupt foreign elites continue to be attracted to the UK property market.

We use all available tools to identify and counter activity by individuals posing a national security threat. Where appropriate, action can be taken on the property and asset ownership of such individuals. This includes through the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, which we can use to deprive criminals of their money or other property connected to criminal activity, inclusive of crimes which threaten the national security of the UK. The Economic Crime and Corporate Transparency Bill currently going through Parliament will make it harder for kleptocrats, criminals and terrorists to engage in activities such as money laundering, corruption, terrorist-financing, illegal arms movements and ransomware payments.

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