Tories almost debt-free after sale of Smith Square

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Tories almost debt-free after sale of Smith Square

By the founding editor | Fri 9th February 2007 - 10:00 am

The Guardian reports:

The Conservative party has sold its old headquarters in Smith Square, central London, to a European property developer for a profit of more than £15m, it emerged last night.

This follows on from reports that they have already amassed a £21m campaigning war chest – £3.2 million more than they spent at the last election, though the same report suggests that membership of the Conservatives fell by six thousand in the first nine months of David Cameron’s leadership.

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4 Comments

Anonymous 9th Feb '07 - 5:55pm

The BBC report:
“A Tory spokesman said the party had signed a confidentiality agreement with the new owner at their request, but he said they were not party donors.”

But aren’t the details of property owners available through the Land Registry?
Chris K 9th Feb '07 - 8:03pm

They might well be, but only after completion of the sale.
Ustalarrigaun 10th Feb '07 - 12:20am

No. Completion occurs before registration. See Abbey National Building Society v Cann (the scintilla temporis and registration gap). In equity, property in land passes at the moment an estate contract is entered. Legal title passes at the moment of registration.

A buyer who wants to remain anonymous purchases an offshore company which is not searchable at Companies House. Yes, a UK address must be furnished, but that may be a firm of accountants or solicitors.

Check out Soho brothels at the Land Registry. Most are “owned” by old ladies in Malta.

Anyone really serious about concealing ownership of land should consult Mr Nicholas Van Hoogstraten.
Ustalarrigaun 10th Feb '07 - 12:50am

By the way. This out-of-it anti-Semitic website claims that Van Hoogstraten is Jewish! (Shades of David Irving and Jeremy Paxman.)

http://judicial-inc.biz/robert_mugambe_of_zimbabwe.htm

Wrong. Van Hoogstraten is of mixed Anglo-Saxon, Flemish and Indian descent, and has expressed quite extreme anti-Semitic opinions. He is a (semi-lapsed) Roman Catholic educated by Jesuits.

No, he didn’t kill a priest in 1968. He paid someone to attack the home of a Brighton cantor whose son (David Braunstein) owed him money.

And does Van Hoogstraten really own 50% of Zimbabwe?

If you want a good laugh, have a look. It’s amazing what garbage one finds on the web.