Who owns the UK?

While many people can’t afford to buy a property, the fortunate few own great swathes of the UK. We took a break from our busy day job working with bridging loan lenders to break down who really owns the UK. While many people are struggling with rising interest rates and face a real struggle to either get onto the property ladder (known as generation rent), or stay there, others own huge amounts of land in the UK.

We decided to break down exactly who these super land owners are, how much they own and while we’re at it, we took a quick look at the number of property millionaires by region. Keep reading to find out more!

WHO REALLY OWNS THE UK?

Becoming a landlord or simply owning a portfolio of property is the dream for many in the UK. It’s easy to see why, as there is plenty of money to be made with the right investments. This is illustrated by the fact that there were over 750,000 property millionaires in Britain as of the start of 2018.

But even they’re just the tip of the iceberg.

The UK is made up from approximately 60,000,000 acres which certainly seems like enough room for everybody to carve out their property dreams. However, the top 50 landowners currently control 7,331,243 acres which equates to over 12% of Britain’s landmass.

So, who are these people who own so much of the UK? Take a look below to find out.

BREAKING DOWN THE UK’S TOP 50 LANDOWNERS

Aside from their impressive property portfolios, one of the most interesting things about the top 50 UK landowners is the trends that emerge when you look a bit closer at who makes the list…

PUTTING IT INTO PERSPECTIVE

When you’re looking at thousands of acres of land, it’s easy to lose sight of the sheer size being discussed. Here are some comparisons to put these figures into perspective…

Find out how much land members of the royalty and nobility control below. The top landowners include Queen Elizabeth, the Crown Estate and Hugh Grosvenor 7th Duke of Westminster.

Foreign interests make up a significant proportion of top 50 places. These include larger companies such as Cheung Kong Infrastructure Holdings, and also individuals like Anders Holch Povlsen and Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al-Maktoum.

Utility providers in the top 50 landowners control almost 500,000 acres across the UK. Those in the list mainly deal in water and mineral mining. The largest companies featured include United Utilities, MEH Minerals and Severn Trent.

A selection of British entrepreneurs and large business owners have made the list including James Dyson (technology), Michael Cannon (public houses) and the Rathbone Brothers (investment broker). Here is what their land holdings equate to.

Charitable Organisations & Environmental Interests control more land than any other group in the top 50. These include the Forestry Commission, the RSPB and the government’s environmental protection and rural affairs department DEFRA.

With talk of a housing crisis never far from the UK press, perhaps it’s not so surprising that although several housing developers appear on the top 50 list, they are dead last in terms of total acreage. Those that make the cut are Taylor Wimpey, Homes England and the Peel Group.

The UK Military own a substantial amount of land, set aside for the ‘defence of the realm’. While the vast majority is controlled by the Ministry of Defence itself, the Honourable Artillery Company also make the top 50 list.

Outside of the other predefined groups we’re left with the Church of England and Oxford University’s Merton College, which both own enough land in their own right to make it into the list of largest land owners in the UK.

UK LAND OWNERSHIP LEADERBOARD

So, who exactly are the people who own so much of the UK? We’ve compiled a list of the top 50 UK property owners and how much land they control in the table below.

#	Land Owner	Acres
1	FORESTRY COMMISSION	2,200,000
2	MINISTRY OF DEFENCE	1,101,851
3	CROWN ESTATE	678,420
4	NATIONAL TRUST & NATIONAL TRUST FOR SCOTLAND	589,748
5	RSPB	332,000
6	RICHARD SCOTT, DUKE OF BUCCLEUCH & QUEENSBERRY	280,000
7	ANDERS HOLCH POVLSEN	218,364
8	THE DUKE OF ATHOLL’S TRUSTS	145,000
9	UNITED UTILITIES	140,124
10	HUGH GROSVENOR, 7TH DUKE OF WESTMINSTER	140,000
11	DUCHY OF CORNWALL	135,000
12	DEFRA	116,309
13	CHURCH OF ENGLAND	105,000
14	DWR CYMRU CYFYNGEDIG (WELSH WATER)	77,975
15	JOHN WHITTAKER (PEEL GROUP)	70,000
16	SALTAIRE WATER	70,000
17	CHEUNG KONG INFRASTRUCTURE HOLDINGS	69,294
18	MRH MINERALS	67,935
19	SHEIKH MOHAMMED BIN RASHID AL-MAKTOUM	63,000
20	HENRY SOMERSET, 12TH DUKE OF BEAUFORT	52,000
21	SEVERN TRENT	51,668
22	LAFARGEHOLCIM	48,557
23	ROBERT WARREN MILLER	36,000
24	HUGH LOWTHER, 8TH EARL OF LONSDALE	35,269
25	SIR JAMES DYSON	33,000
26	ROGER TEMPEST	25,516
27	ZAMBRANO FAMILY	25,340
28	COUNT LUCA RINALDO CONTARDO PADULLI DI VIGHIGNOLO	25,000
29	ANDREW RUSSELL, 15TH DUKE OF BEDFORD	21,474
30	STEFAN PERSSON	21,373
31	HARWORTH GROUP	21,000
32	EDWARD GUINNESS, 4TH EARL OF IVEAGH	20,664
33	HEIDELBERGCEMENT	20,534
34	CORLAND MINERALS	20,371
35	QUEEN ELIZABETH II	20,000
36	JOHN SAVILE, 8TH EARL OF MEXBOROUGH	20,000
37	HOMES ENGLAND	19,349
38	JOHN CLARK	18,119
39	MICHAEL STONE	18,000
40	SIR LYONEL HUMPHREY JOHN TOLLEMACHE, 7TH BARONET	17,908
41	RATHBONE BROTHERS	17,854
42	OSPREY CONSORTIUM	17,607
43	VALERO ENERGY	17,216
44	MICHAEL CANNON	16,001
45	RICHARD KELVIN-HUGHES	16,000
46	KEMBLE WATER HOLDINGS	15,987
47	PENNON GROUP	15,816
48	MERTON COLLEGE, OXFORD UNIVERSITY	14,707
49	TAYLOR WIMPEY	14,684
50	HONOURABLE ARTILLERY COMPANY	14,209

*Data sourced from Love Money, Who Owns England and additional public records research

The land information contained in the above table is based on publicly available information. Due to the closely guarded nature of land ownership, some people and companies may not feature who would qualify for the top 50. Of those featured, the acreage may not include all of their land holdings but allows us an insight into their substantial assets.

Invoice Finance – We provide Invoice Finance, allowing your business to sell its invoices to us at a discount, improving your cash flow and reducing receivables.

Invoice Discounting – With our Invoice Discounting option, you can maintain control over your sales ledger while we give you an advance on a percentage of your invoice values

Homeowner Loans – We offer Homeowner Loans, where you can use the equity in your home as collateral to secure a loan, providing you with the funds you need

Secured Loans – Our Secured Loans are backed by your assets, such as property or a vehicle, ensuring lower interest rates and better loan terms

Second Charge Mortgage – We provide Second Charge Mortgages, allowing you to use the equity in your home as collateral for a loan, which sits behind your primary mortgage.

Bridging Loans – Our Bridging Loans are designed to help you manage the financial gap in property transactions, offering short-term funding until you sell your existing property.”