Farage accused of trying to hide ‘property empire’

Helen Corbett, Press Association Political Correspondent

Labour has accused Nigel Farage of trying to conceal a “property empire” after questions were raised over how the Reform UK leader declared his real estate holdings.

It comes after a report that the Reform UK leader and his partner have amassed a mortgage-free property portfolio worth more than £4 million between them over the past decade.

The MP’s register of interests shows two properties declared under “land and property”- one in Folkestone and Hythe in Kent and another in Tandridge, Surrey.

Mr Farage also spends time at a home in his Clacton constituency that he initially suggested he had bought, but it later emerged his partner was listed as the sole owner, which means he is not obliged to declare it.

The Times reported that he owns another two homes, citing Land Registry records.

MPs must register land or property they own, according to the parliamentary code of conduct, but there are exemptions for properties that are their residence or that their family members live in.

The Times report suggests that one of the undeclared properties could be exempt because Mr Farage’s daughter lives there, but may not be depending on whether an unrelated man who also lives there pays rent that reaches the threshold for declaration.

One of the homes he has declared is owned through his company, Thorn in the Side Ltd, while another owned through that company has not been declared, the newspaper reported.

This discrepancy between the treatment of those two properties, which are both beachfront homes on the Kent coast, has also raised questions.

Mr Farage told the newspaper one of the homes did not need to be registered because it was owned by the company, which itself is declared under “shareholdings”, but did not explain the discrepancy beyond saying he had declared the other due to an “abundance of caution”, according to the report.

He told the paper the Tandridge property is his main residence.

£5 million ‘gift’

Labour Party chairwoman Anna Turley said: “Time and again, Nigel Farage thinks the rules don’t apply to him.

“The Reform leader needs to urgently clarify why he’s tried to hide his property empire from the public – just as he needs to explain why he tried to hide his secret £5 million ‘gift’ from a crypto billionaire.

“The scandals engulfing Five-homes Farage and Reform aren’t going away. The public can see he isn’t on the side of working people – he’s just in it for himself.”

A Reform spokes­man said: “Everything has been prop­erly declared and checked with the par­lia­ment­ary regis­trar.”

Mr Farage continues to face questions about a £5 million gift he received from Thai-based billionaire Christopher Harborne.

The Reform leader has reasoned that he did not need to declare the gift, which he was given before he announced he would stand for Parliament in 2024, because it was not related to politics.