The new mayor of London is undertaking the biggest investigation into foreign ownership of the city’s homes ever.
The probe comes amid concerns that wealthy overseas buyers are driving up house prices across the city and in turn blocking others from taking their first steps onto the property ladder.
Sadiq Khan, a Labour Party politician who succeeded Boris Johnson as mayor earlier in May, told the Guardian that while he welcomes investment from around the world in building new homes, including those from first-time buyers, he has "real concerns" about the jump in the number of properties being snapped up by foreign buyers.
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"It’s clear we need to better understand the different roles that overseas money plays in London’s housing market, the scale of what’s going on, and what action we can take to support development and help Londoners find a home," he told the Guardian.
"That’s why we are commissioning the most thorough research on this matter ever undertaken in Britain—the biggest look of its kind at this issue—so we can figure out exactly what can be done," he continued.
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According to the Guardian, the inquiry will focus on how foreign cash has changed all areas of London’s housing market from affordable homes to the very top end and will look at how other global cities are dealing with similar issues as well as where the money originates from to ensure "dirty money" isn’t flooding into the property market.
Recent figures from Hamptons International, a U.K.-based brokerage, showed that foreign buyers made up a quarter of all London home sales in the first quarter of 2016, although this was down from 32% a year earlier and a five-year average of 30%.
Mr. Khan’s office didn’t return requests for comment.
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