Shard flats left empty after Reeves's non-dom tax raid

Yahoo

2 days ago

Luxury flats at the top of The Shard have been left empty after Rachel Reeves's non-dom tax raid drove away wealthy buyers, the property's Qatari backers say.
Real Estate Management (Rem), which is owned by the State of Qatar, said that it was 'very disappointed' with lack of progress made on letting out 10 luxury flats on the 72-storey skyscraper's upper levels, which are priced at between £30m and £50m each.
Rem said Ms Reeves's tax changes for wealthy individuals was 'driving many such investors away' from Britain and hammering demand for ultra-expensive property.
'The long-heralded change in UK tax rules applied to overseas residents, which were accelerated by the current UK administration to apply from April 2025, [has] had the feared impact of driving many such investors away from the UK to escape double taxation of their worldwide income,' it said in accounts.
'This group of wealthy overseas investors has been the core constituency for super-prime lettings in the UK.'
Ms Reeves abolished the non-dom status in April this year, while also bringing in sweeping inheritance tax changes. Those changes have been blamed for driving some of Britain's wealthiest people away from the country.
The flats, on floors 53 to 65 of The Shard, were thought to have been priced between £30m and £50m after the skyscraper opened in 2012.
They have been empty ever since, amid speculation that Qatar's royal family kept the flats for their own use while visiting London.
Rem is an investment adviser tasked with letting out the flats. The properties are owned by another Qatar-backed entity, LBQ Four.
The flats were made available for occupation in late 2023 after undergoing construction works, but despite 'every effort' to let them their availability coincided with a 'severe contraction' in the ultra-prime property market, Rem said.
Rem's portfolio includes the Shard Quarter, The News Building and Park House on Oxford Street. It also owns The Shard's viewing gallery, which has reported 'difficult trading'.
Qatari Diar, the property division of the state's sovereign wealth fund, bought 80pc of the skyscraper in 2008 after the project ran into financial difficulties. It later increased its stake to 95pc, with developer Sellar Property Group owning the remainder.
The difficulties at The Shard capped off a difficult period for Rem, with pre-tax profit falling from £8.1m to £7.5m in the year ending December 2024.
Rem also said it was struggling with recruiting and keeping skilled managerial and building staff, as well as the workforces of business partners contracted to undertake services across its property portfolio.
Wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Donald Trump's tariffs and falling commercial property values had created a 'brew of uncertainty, investor hesitancy and a lack of stability', it said.
The Treasury and Rem have both been contacted for comment.
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