Research reveals £3.2 billion worth of property in Scotland held by opaque offshore trusts

New research by Transparency International UK reveals that £3.2 billion worth of property in Scotland is held by opaque offshore structures, making it impossible to identify the true owner and raising concerns that transparency loopholes could undermine the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill currently before MSPs. 

These arrangements can be used to obscure those who financially benefit from land or property in Scotland, but also to hide the proceeds of corruption or other criminal activity. 

The Scottish Parliament is this week preparing to begin Stage 3 of the Bill, which aims to reform the law around large landholdings and certain types of leases of land. But without full transparency over who really controls land and property, these reforms risk being ineffective. 

The call for further transparency around the ultimate owners of land in Scotland comes as Transparency International UK research reveals: 

• One in five (£3.2 billion) of the £9.1 billion worth of properties owned offshore in secrecy havens like Jersey, Guernsey and the British Virgin Islands don’t disclose publicly who owns them.
• Of those, £1.2 billion worth of properties are controlled by complex trust arrangements to keep their owner's identity secret. 

Juliet Swann, Nations and Regions Programme Manager, Transparency International UK, said: 

“The UK property market has for decades been a favoured safe haven for illicit finance from around the world, and this research shows Scotland is not immune. 

"Ensuring a fully transparent dataset of land ownership in Scotland could have immediate benefits to communities seeking to use land reform provisions and will also help prevent kleptocrats and oligarchs investing their dirty money gains in Scottish property. 

“The Scottish Government should consider if re-imagining the Register of Controlled Interests in Land as an anti-corruption tool might help grasp this nettle of cracking open opaque trust structures.” 

Transparency International UK is also concerned that provisions in the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024 – which have yet to be enacted – could create offshore-like trust structures here in the UK. If these arrangements are used to purchase land or property, it would make it impossible to identify who is benefitting from huge areas of Scottish land.  

Amendment 208 to the Land Reform (Scotland) Bill, proposed by Rhoda Grant MSP highlights the need to address this risk. It seeks to amend the 2024 provisions to address the secrecy risk.  

Juliet Swann continued: 

“We welcome Rhoda Grant’s amendment, which shines a light on the need to be vigilant about the methods used to hide ownership of Scottish assets. We urge members to support the amendment.  

“We would also encourage the Scottish Government to restate in the Chamber their commitment to developing an anti-corruption strategy as part of the next Open Government Action Plan. Such a strategy could prove a valuable tool in ensuring policy development is mindful of corruption risks.” 

Notes to Editors 

Amendment 208 seeks to improve land ownership transparency - which will assist in giving effect to other aspects of the Land Reform Bill - by ensuring that the potential introduction of legislation giving competence to Private Purpose Trusts (PPTs) does not create further barriers to transparency of land ownership.  

The amendment if passed will make changes to Chapter 6, section 46 of the Trusts and Succession (Scotland) Act 2024. This is a prospective chapter of the Act, yet to be enacted. Amending this prospective provision intends to ensure that concerns expressed by Transparency International UK and others that Private Purpose Trusts present a corruption risk are addressed and mitigated.  

The Minister for Victims and Community Safety previously wrote to the Convenor of the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee detailing the intention to “undertake a review of private purpose trusts as part of our anti-corruption work in our next Open Government Action Plan, which will commence in 2026.” 

Background can be found in our previously published blog.