Land Registry: London holds 43% of overseas company titles

HM Land Registry data shows that 39,172 property titles held by overseas companies are in Greater London, leaving the capital with 43 percent of the England and Wales total.

The latest Overseas Companies Ownership Data records 91,136 titles across England and Wales. England accounts for 88,933 of them, while London alone has more than two and a half times the South East’s 14,919 titles.

The concentration matters for landlords because it describes where corporate ownership sits most heavily, not simply where overseas demand is talked about. It is most relevant to investors assessing competition, tenant demand and the role of company buyers in London’s higher-value and rental markets.

Central London carries the biggest concentration

Westminster has 9,666 overseas-company-owned titles, or 24.7 percent of London’s total, followed by Kensington and Chelsea with 4,958. Together they account for 14,624 titles. Tower Hamlets, Camden, Wandsworth, Lambeth, Southwark and the City of London also feature prominently in the dataset.

The figures cover land and property registered to overseas companies, rather than homes owned by individual overseas buyers. That distinction is important: title counts do not show a company’s portfolio value, whether each title is rented, or the number of homes behind a title.

Landlords considering an acquisition should therefore avoid treating the headline as a direct measure of available rental stock. A title can relate to a house, flat, commercial asset or land, and the data cannot on its own show who competes for a particular buy-to-let purchase.

What the register can and cannot show

Landlord Knowledge’s earlier coverage of foreign landlord company ownership examined how company structures can shape the buy-to-let market. The latest Land Registry release adds a location lens, with central London still far ahead of every other part of the country.

It also comes as company ownership remains a live question for landlords weighing incorporation, refinancing and purchase strategy. Recent coverage of the fall in buy-to-let company formations showed that new incorporations have slowed this year, even though existing corporate property ownership remains substantial.

The HM Land Registry overseas companies dataset is updated from registered title information. It offers a useful check on geography, but landlords still need local sold-price evidence, rental comparables and planning information before reaching an investment decision.

What this means for landlords

If buying in central London: assess company ownership as one part of local competition, not as a substitute for comparable sales and rents.
Watch for: the difference between titles and dwellings. The register does not show the size, use or value of every holding.
If using a company: take tax and lending advice on the structure rather than assuming wider corporate ownership makes incorporation right for every portfolio.
Bottom line: London’s 43 percent share confirms a strong corporate ownership footprint, but it is a market map rather than a buying signal.

Editor’s view
The headline is large, but the useful lesson is narrower. London has a deep corporate ownership base, particularly in its central boroughs, and landlords need to understand that local context without mistaking a title register for a rental-demand forecast.

Author: Editorial Team – UK landlord & buy-to-let news, policy, and finance
Published: 16 September 2026

Sources: HM Land Registry Overseas Companies Ownership Data
Related reading: Foreign landlords drive record buy-to-let company growth despite rent slowdown