Qataris become biggest land owners in London

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GEO NEWS
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Qataris become biggest land owners in London
Photo: Reuters/file

LONDON: Qataris own around 22 million square feet of Canary Wharf Group estate in London, making them the biggest land owners in the city.

This was revealed in a ranking published by Datscha. Qataris also own another 1.8million sq ft elsewhere in the capital.

According to the findings, Qataris are ahead of City of London, Transport for London, Network Rail and even the Queen.

Other leading organisations included in top ten list include British Land Company, BNP Paribas, Legal and General, Aviva and Segro, according to Property Week magazine.

Qataris had investment about £30billion in Britain last year, according to former Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim bin Jaber Al-Thani. Investors from Qatar mainly invest in five major areas of London including Kensington, Knightsbridge, Mayfair, the City and Canary Wharf.

According to Raed Hanna, who works for Mutual Finance which advises Qatari investors, property in UK is a secure investment.

“In Qatar they can get a 50 per cent or 60 per cent return against 5 per cent or 6 per cent here in the UK,” he said while speaking to Property Week magazine.

“Nevertheless, the UK is still considered much safer than their own country, where they are too politically exposed.”