There are just under 4,000 properties whose owner occupiers bought their home using a corporate wrapper – so-called “non-natural persons”.

According to analysis of HMRC data, 3,990 properties nationwide are currently owned by non-natural persons, essentially companies, partnerships and trusts, for owner occupation – equivalent to 0.2% of the UK’s housing stock.

The majority (63%) are valued at between £2m and £5m, with 14% valued at over £10m.

Purchases by non-natural persons have been steadily discouraged by taxation.

These include hefty Stamp Duty Land Tax charges and an Annual Tax on Enveloped Dwellings (ATED).

London Central Portfolio, an investment company which did the analysis, says that the statistics show that numbers of properties in corporate ownership are now less than a fifth of previous estimates.

LCP says there is strong evidence that the tax clampdown is working, with more purchasers buying homes in their own names rather than choosing to hide behind anonymous corporates.

The number of properties over £10m that were registered in central London in 2011 was just 13. This was before the tax disincentives.

Last year, there were 65 registrations at the Land Registry, suggesting that super-rich buyers would prefer to sacrifice anonymity in favour of tax savings.

LCP points out: “Previously, many of these properties would have been acquired in corporate wrappers and hence not recorded at the Land Registry.”

In addition to the owner-occupied properties bought in corporate wrappers, the owners of 3,040 properties have also made ATED returns, but no tax is payable as they are deemed genuine commercial investments – ie, they are used for rental purposes to generate income.

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