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Up to four out of five homes in some of the capital’s most high-profile new housing developments have been sold to overseas owners in fresh evidence of London buyers being squeezed out, a report warned today.

An analysis into the ownership of just over 2,000 flats or houses in 14 developments shows that 1,616 of the homes were purchased by individuals or companies from abroad, says the report’s author, anti-corruption campaign group Transparency International.

It says that compares with only 450 registered to Britons — meaning nearly 80 per cent of known buyers in the flagship projects come from overseas, with only a small number of Londoners benefiting from the new homes.

Schemes examined include Nine Elms, Tower Bridge and the South Bank.

The report says the worst examples of domestic buyers losing out include South Gardens at Elephant Castle and The Corniche in Albert Embankment.

It adds that every one of the known purchasers in each is from abroad or has bought on behalf of someone from overseas. Baltimore Wharf in Docklands was found to have nearly five times more registered owners from Singapore and China than from Britain.

The negative impact on London is made worse by the fact that 40 per cent of purchases, totalling £1.6 billion, in the new developments were by investors from countries with a “high risk” of corruption, says the report.

It adds that many of the properties appear to be left empty, citing electricity usage data to back up its finding.

A YouGov poll in the report shows that half of Londoners aged 25 to 49 are considering moving out of the city because of high property prices.

The findings come despite a voluntary agreement between developers and former mayor Boris Johnson that new homes should be marketed first in this country.

His successor Sadiq Khan has ordered an inquiry into foreign property ownership in London, citing “real concerns” about “a surge in the number of homes being bought by overseas investors”.

Developers insist that foreign investment plays a key role in funding construction and helps to boost the overall supply of new homes.

But Transparency International says the flow of overseas money into prime London property is fuelling the housing crisis by pushing up prices and shutting domestic buyers out.

“Overseas investment is one of the factors that is driving the crisis,” the report states.

“Price rises consistently outstrip wage increases, dozens of prospective buyers compete for a shrinking pool of affordable stock, while rent prices rise ever higher.”

The group’s director of policy Duncan Hames said: “For Londoners priced out of buying a home, it’s bad that so many developments are instead desig- ned to meet the tastes of wealthy overseas investors then left under-used.”

The findings on the 14 new developments show that investors from Singapore, China, Malaysia and the Gulf are among those dominating purchases.

At Baltimore Wharf, for example, TI says 87.4 per cent of 299 homes analy- sed for its report went to overseas buyers. It says these include 96 from Singapore, 77 Chinese investors, and 15 from Malaysia.

Britons account for 36 of the known buyers, equivalent to less than 13 per cent of the overall total.

To address the problems, TI says the Government should require that all contract information and the beneficial ownership of companies buying homes is publicly available.

Several firms whose developments are cited in the report questioned the findings but declined to comment until they had analysed the figures.

Others insisted their projects were benefiting London. A spokesman for Berkeley, which built The Corniche, 250 City Road and One Tower Bridge, said: “These three developments make a huge contribution to London.

“They provide 30 per cent affordable housing, great public space, local jobs, local shops, even a theatre. Berkeley also markets all its developments in the UK first and we rigorously comply with the money-laundering regulations.”

Don O’Sullivan, managing director of Baltimore Wharf developer Galliard Homes, conceded that “a big percentage were sold to non-UK buyers” but said this was because of “flat” demand when the properties were marketed.

He added: “To get finance to build something we have to have sales in place to satisfy the banks. What this development has done for London is provide 80 apartments for a housing association onsite.

“It is always our preference to sell to Londoners. Selling to customers in the Asian market costs more to set up, costs more in fees and means we are not selling to people back home.”