Mapping for the first time the full extent of British property ownership by some of the world’s largest private equity companies, freelance journalists Matthew Ponsford and Ruairi Casey reveal how the pandemic has been a boon for so-called vulture capitalists.
The duo came up with a new methodology for tracing the subsidiaries of private equity firms, making it easier to pinpoint property anywhere in the world that is owned by their shell companies and affiliates. They plan to share this methodology with other European journalists to foster future collaboration and keep the investigation alive.
They also put Berlin’s housing market under the microscope and intend to report on other European cities, so stay tuned for more stories.
Vulture firms – specialized in profiting from cycles of bust and booms -, are using the pandemic crisis to increase their assets in the "beds sector” (from student dormitories to rental flats), submitting increasingly housing into financial interests.https://t.co/QgV2gG4ys8
— Raquel Rolnik (@raquelrolnik) February 26, 2021
Cover photo of Berlin cityscape by Stefan Widua on Unsplash