Labour MP Rachel Blake has renewed her campaign against dirty money being channelled into London property, warning that communities in the capital are paying the price when homes and commercial premises are used to hide suspicious wealth.
The Cities of London and Westminster MP said that more than half of the £5.9 billion in suspect funds identified as having entered UK property through companies registered in overseas territories is linked to property in her constituency. The figure originates from research cited in Parliament on the scale of suspicious investment in British property.
Writing on X, Blake said: “Half of the UK’s dirty-money properties are in my constituency, and it’s our communities that feel the impact.”
Blake has argued that the issue goes beyond financial crime, with opaque property ownership having direct consequences for residents, legitimate businesses and neighbourhoods.
She said in a follow-up post:
“Dirty money doesn’t just undermine our financial system, it harms local neighbourhoods. It erodes trust and confidence, leaves homes standing empty,”
She also pointed to the impact on high-street premises.
The concerns echo those raised by Westminster City Council, whose Dirty Money Charter warns that illicit wealth invested in property can artificially increase property prices and rents, leave valuable homes and commercial premises sitting unused and make it harder for responsible businesses to compete.
Blake has repeatedly raised the issue in Parliament. During a Westminster Hall debate last year, she warned that suspicious money was “blighting” communities by driving out residents and local businesses and replacing them with properties held through opaque corporate structures.
The Labour MP has also highlighted the particular concentration of suspicious wealth in some of Britain’s most valuable areas of central London.
Her intervention comes as the Labour Government steps up action against rogue high-street businesses and economic crime. Measures announced this month include a £30 million crackdown targeting money laundering, tax evasion and illegal working, backed by raids, closures and cash seizures.
The Government has also announced stronger powers for councils and communities over their high streets, alongside measures allowing premises linked to organised criminal activity to be closed for longer.
For Blake, tackling dirty money is ultimately as much a local issue as a national economic and law-enforcement challenge.
Her argument is that property should serve the communities in which it sits rather than becoming a safe haven for the proceeds of corruption and crime — and that cleaning up Britain’s financial system can help protect homes, high streets and legitimate local businesses at the same time.
