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The Guardian - UK
The Guardian - UK
National
Robert Booth Social affairs correspondent

London council could seize oligarchs’ homes for affordable housing

Eaton Square, London
Eaton Square. Westminster has 4,000 households on the waiting list for affordable homes. Photograph: Richard Baker/Alamy

Homes acquired with “dirty money” in the richest parts of London could be seized and turned into affordable housing under plans to crack down on oligarchs using Belgravia, Knightsbridge and Mayfair “to rinse their money”.

Labour-controlled Westminster city council is examining the use of compulsory purchase orders in extreme cases where it finds properties are not being used for their stated purpose, as part of a push to “combat the capital’s reputation as the European centre for money laundering”.

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