So who owns what ... and where?
From Nairn to Knoydart, Falkirk to Fife, we map out just some of the properties in the hands of off-shore firms
Hundreds of care homes, shops, flats and churches are among the swathes of Scottish property now in the hands of off-shore firms. At least 44 estates, dozens of hotels and pubs and countless student accommodation complexes have been snapped up by foreign investors and companies registered outside the UK. Here we reveal just a few of the properties spread right across Scotland and now registered to far-flung tax havens.
1 Lathallan School
Montrose
Prestigious private boarding school Lathallan School in Montrose is owned by a firm based in the United Arab Emirates. It was bought for £500,000 in 2007 by Britannia Heavy Equipment LLC based in Dubai. The school costs up to £7600 per term to attend.
6 Charlotte Street
Helensburgh
Jersey-based Hawkeye Properties 501 Limited own 16 car garages in Scotland including at Charlotte Street in Helensburgh, which they bought for £495,000 in 2015. All of the properties are either Kwik Fit or former Kwik Fits, which have been rebranded Tyre City.
11 Fowler Road
Broughty Ferry, Dundee
Carnoustie Limited paid £1.1m for Fowler Road in Broughty Ferry, Dundee in 2016. That Isle of Man firm is one of several owned by Springfield Property Fund Plc. Last year, we revealed how Sir Alex Ferguson and SNP donor Sandy Adam were among its shareholders.
16 Island and hotel
Eriska
Hong Kong-based Creation Gem International Limited paid nearly £1m in 2016 for Eriska – a 300-acre island complete with five-star hotel. The owner is Wayne Rong, who is based in Shanghai and has business interests in Hong Kong.
2 The Howgate Centre
Falkirk
Howgate shopping centre in Falkirk was bought by Luxembourg-based firm LSREF3 Tiger Falkirk II S.A.R.L in 2014. The shopping centre’s website says it is owned by firm Ellandi, which describes itself as the “UK’S leading community shopping centre investor”.
7 Rental flats
Glasgow
Letting agent KPM Estates Limited is based in the Bahamas, and owns 22 rental flats in Glasgow, Owned by Glasgow-based Farhad and Khalida Malik, the firm is linked to Mossack Fonseca, the Panamanian law firm at the centre of the Panama Papers leak.
12 Caledonian Hotel
Edinburgh
The Caledonian Hotel on Edinburgh’s Princes Street was owned by Guernsey firm Shilling Real Estate Limited, which bought it in 2008 for around £56m. The hotel was sold earlier this year for £85m to Abu Dhabi firm Twenty14 Holdings, which has pledged a £20m revamp.
17 Simpson Loan
Edinburgh
A flat, marketed as a luxury holiday let on Edinburgh’s Simpson Loan, was bought by Ashmore Investments Limited, based in St Lucia, for £815,000 in 2008. It was described online as a “best seller” for tourist accommodation.
3 Sauchiehall Building
Glasgow
Glasgow’s Sauchiehall Street Centre, now known as The Sauchiehall Building, is owned by Luxembourg-based Sauchie Propco S.Á R.L. The firm bought the centre in 2015 for around £46m and was revamped in 2016 for London firm Quadrant Estates.
8 Ardfin Estate
Jura
In 2010, Australian hedge fund manager, Greg Coffey, reportedly bought the Ardfin Estate in Jura. Records show the company behind the purchases, Jersey’s Ardfin Lodge Limited, bought 13 properties in Jura, paying nearly £8m overall.
13 Howard Place
St Andrews
A swanky holiday home at St Andrews’ Howard Place is owned by Bahamas firm Fire Dragon Limited, which bought it for £410,000 in 2010. The firm is an intermediary of Winterbotham Trust Company, run by former Lloyds bank executive Geoffrey Hooper.
18 Black Dog Inn
Aberdeen
Stonegate Pub Company, based in the Cayman Islands, owns 13 pubs and hotels in Scotland, including Aberdeen’s Black Dog Inn and Linlithgow’s West Port Hotel. It is owned by Manjit Dale, a Cambridge economics graduate, among others.
4 Whytbank Tower
Selkirk
Whytbank Tower, a castle in Selkirk, is owned by a Panamanian-based firm Balshamill Sociedad Anonima. The tower, built by James Pringle in the 16th Century, was restored in 1992 as a private residence and passed into the ownership of the Panama firm in 2005.
9 Waverley Road
Nairn
A detached house on Nairn’s Waverley Road is owned by British Virgin Islands based firm Gilchrist Investments Limited. The firm bought the property for £250,000 in 2006, and is now estimated to be worth more than £336,000.
14 Henderson House
Dunfermline
Henderson House in Dunfermline, and 17 other care homes – bought for over £70m in recent years – are owned by Jersey’s Healthcare Property Holdings Limited and Healthcare Holdings Limited. Their other homes include Garioch Home in Inverurie.
19 The Old Forge
Knoydart
Britain’s most remote pub, The Old Forge on the Knoydart peninsula, is owned by Maltese firm Celtic Alice Limited. It was bought in October 2012 for £250,000 from locals Ian and Jackie Robertson, and is now run by Belgian hotelier Jeanpierre Robinet.
5 Amazon centre
Dunfermline
Amazon’s distribution centre in Dunfermline was sold for £43m to Jersey-based Spectre Properties last year. The centre, which received a £6.3m Scottish Government grant, was acquired in 2012 by property specialist Tritax for £43.2m.
10 Glebe Street
Inverness
The former site of Inverness swimming pool on Glebe Street was bought over by Dutch firm Vastint Hospitality B.V. at the end of 2017, for £2.82m. Plans have now been submitted to convert the site into a 180-bedroom hotel and car park.
15 Golf course and stables
Buchanan
Buchanan Castle Golf Course and nearby Buchanan stables at Loch Lomond are owned by Jersey-registered firm Montrose Estates (1993) Limited. The firm’s directors include the Duke and Duchess of Montrose and the Marquis of Graham.
20 Thistle Marches Centre
Stirling
Stirling’s Thistle Marches shopping centre is owned by Jersey-based firm USB Nominees Limited. Its shareholders include firms linked to Mossack Fonseca, and Mr. Christopher Charles Rivett-carnac – the English boss of an Asian petrol company.