Almost 13,000 offshore companies with UK property fail to declare owners

The British Virgin Islands is by far the most common jurisdiction for overseas entities registered at Companies House. Photograph: DEA/V. GIANNELLA/De Agostini/Getty Images

Almost 13,000 offshore companies holding UK property have failed to declare their ultimate owners and may now face fines and a ban on selling their land, the government has said.

Martin Callanan, a business minister, praised the introduction of the new register of overseas owners of UK properties, saying it had been “invaluable for tax and revenue services, bringing transparency to opaque offshore trusts often used to obscure assets for tax purposes”.