Mayor of London Sadiq Khan has proposed giving Londoners first dibs on new homes as he warned against the city becoming the “world’s capital for money laundering”.
Khan told ITV’s Peston on Sunday programme that developers may be required to market new properties for the first six months in London to secure planning permission.
“We should not be embarrassed about saying ‘our homes are homes,’ not gold bricks for invsetors in the Middle East and Asia,” he said.
He said he had nothing against the construction of luxury homes in the capital. But he added: “What we can’t have is London being the world’s capital for money laundering.”
It comes after prime minister David Cameron earlier this month announced a crackdown on property purchases involving anonymous shell companies using plundered or laundered cash, saying names of all property owners would be publicly registered.
• To send feedback e-mail louisa.clarence-smith@estatesgazette.com or tweet @LouisaClarence or @estatesgazette
