Who owns Birmingham: how many overseas companies own properties in Birmingham?

As the biggest British city outside London, Birmingham is one of the most attractive UK cities for businesses and investors.

After growing to prominence as a leader in manufacturing and engineering during the industrial revolution, Birmingham remains a key UK business centre.

In recent times, financial services company Goldman Sachs opened its first offices in the city in 2021, HSBC moved its ring-fenced personal and business headquarters to Birmingham in 2018 and many blue chip giants have a base here - including Deloitte, Deutsche Bank, PwC and more.

Birmingham also has a number of historical landmarks and desirable properties. For example, there’s the majestic Town Hall, which has been located in the heart of the city centre since 1832, the Bullring and Grand Central of course, the Library of Birmingham, the Cube, the ICC, the NEC, 103 Colmore Row - to name a few.

In total, more than 60,000 properties in Birmingham are owned by businesses. But how many of these companies are based overseas and which countries they are from? Birmingham World has conducted research to find out.

Data produced by HM Land Registry shows that as of January 2023, there were 1,104 properties in Birmingham which were owned by companies based overseas. These companies were based in 46 different countries and jurisdictions. These are buildings or land which are owned by companies - not individuals - but they include properties of any kind, including homes, offices, shops, factories, and hotels.

Many of these overseas businesses are based in offshore financial centres including Jersey and the British Virgin Islands. These are countries that provide advantageous deposit and lending rates to non-residents because of low taxation, liberal exchange controls or low reserve requirements for banks.

The number of properties in the Birmingham district owned by UK-based companies is 59,832.

How much of Birmingham is owned by offshore companies?

After the UK, companies based in Jersey own the greatest number of properties in Birmingham.

According to the data, Jersey-based firms owned 290 properties in Birmingham, with the purchase prices totalling at least £640 million - although the value is likely far higher as many records don’t state how much a property was bought for.

Companies in the British Virgin Islands own 194 properties, and had paid at least £115 million for them. Companies in the Isle of Man own 114 properties in Birmingham, having paid at least £99 million for them. 110 properties in Birmingham are owned by companies based in Guernsey, with at least £106 million being paid for those properties.

36 properties in Birmingham are owned by companies in the British overseas territory of Gibraltar, with at least £15 million being paid for them.

And 32 Birmingham properties are owned by companies based in the Cayman Islands, with those companies paying at least £22 million for them. Hong Kong companies own 25 properties, paying at least £5 million, and companies based in the Seychelles own 20 properties in Birmingham, having paid at least £2.4 million. Five properties are owned by companies based in the Marshall Islands, having paid at least £3.6 million for them.

One Birmingham property is owned by a company based on the Eastern Caribbean island of Anguilla, but no purchase price information was available. Another property is owned by a company based in the Bahamas, having paid £147,000.

All of these countries are considered to be offshore financial centres by the European Union.

Elsewhere, businesses based in countries not on this EU list also own plenty of Birmingham’s buildings. Companies based in Luxembourg own 94 properties in the city, having paid at least £332 million for those properties, while companies based in Ireland own 49 properties in the city, having paid £5.4 million at least. Companies based in Qatar own 17 Birmingham properties, having paid at least £4 million for them.

Which parts of Birmingham have the most overseas-owned buildings?

The data shows that 119 of the properties owned by overseas companies are in central Birmingham. 98 are based in Five Ways North close to the city centre, 82 are in Digbeth, and 62 are in Ladywood - Summer Hill.