1 day ago / John Lucas, Reporter / @johnlucasNQE
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FOREIGN companies spent nearly £1billion buying up property and land in south Essex during a 15 year splurge.

Many of the purchases came from firms based in tax havens such as Panama, which snapped up sites across Southend, Basildon and Canvey worth £4.5million.

Companies registered in other territories like Jersey, Guernsey and the British Virgin Islands bought more than 300 sites in total between 1999 and 2014.

The information was released by the Land Registry under the Freedom of Information Act, following a campaign from Private Eye magazine for greater transparency.

Six of the properties were on Victoria Avenue, Southend, including Carby House and Heath House, purchased by the Guernsey-registered Southend Properties for more than £5m in 2005.

The company was threatened with a compulsory purchase order in 2014 when Southend Council wanted to redevelop the area.

Council leader Ron Woodley said: “It was very difficult. You don’t have a tight control on these owners because they hide behind their offshore companies.

“We went through the whole compulsory purchase thing and because of that we got Victoria Avenue moving along.

“It’s very difficult to deal with offshore companies. Until there is a change in the national law it’s a problem.”

Not all of the investments came from tax haven-registered firms.

Promontoria Holding, based in the Netherlands, bought up eight pubs in Rochford, Southend, Leigh and Basildon in 2014.

The Stonegate Pub Company, which is registered in the Cayman Islands, invested millions in property including the Lobster Smack, on Canvey, and the Beehive, in Basildon town centre.

A spokesman said the firm’s registration had no bearing on how much tax it paid.

He said: “The company is a Cayman incorporated company and is tax resident in the United Kingdom and files all UK corporation tax returns on an annual basis.”

The Freedom of Information request shows foreign firms spent £145million on freeholds and long-term leaseholds in Southend alone, including flats, houses, high street shops and business parks.

There are 18 flats in Southend, Westcliff and Leigh purchased by Panama-based Consolidated General Investments Ltd, also linked to a company in Qatar.

A total of 54 properties in south Essex are registered to companies in Jersey, including land and buildings on the south west side of Chester Hall Lane, Basildon, purchased for £47million in December 2014.

The building used by TGI Friday’s, at Basildon’s Festival Leisure Park, was also transferred to a Jersey-based firm in 2007 for an undisclosed sum.

The business was later purchased by private equity firm Electra Partners in 2014 for £99m, but a spokesman for the group refused to say whether or not it was based in the UK.

IMAGE: Derelict- Heath House was bought by the council in 2014

For more on this story go to: http://www.echo-news.co.uk/news/14489024.Foreign_companies_spent_nearly___1billion_buying_up_property_and_land_in_south_Essex/