Chapter 232： London mansion

The next day, William Chen found a local real estate agent in London and took him to see the house. As he told Abu before, he really had the idea of ​​buying a house in London, so that he didn't have to go to the house every time he came. Stay in a hotel.

When William Chen contacted the sales consultant introduced by Abu who specializes in the highest-end real estate in London, he knew that the person who contacted him was William Chen, the fourth richest man in the world, and the other party's excitement was beyond words.

William Chen only made one request to him, and that is to ask for the best house currently for sale in London and the best location.

So today, the sales consultant named Tim Toledo, after doing his homework, first brought Chen William and Yang Mi to a mansion on Cowley Street.

Entering the three-story red brick building, Tim Toledo said to the two:

"Dear Mr William, and this beautiful lady, this home is located on Cowley Street, just a block from Downing Street, London's most famous street."

"The location of the house is excellent, as you can see, the Thames is very beautiful to the east, and to the north is Big Ben, the Houses of Parliament, Westminster Abbey, all within a 10-minute walk. Inside."

"The surrounding educational resources are also very rich. The famous Westminster College in London is located in the northwest, which can be reached in about 5 minutes on foot. After the children go to school, the trouble of picking up and dropping off is saved, and the safety is worth guaranteeing."

"The most important thing is that on the south side of the same block of this house, there are the London City Government Office and Smith Square, and MI5 is just across the street. It can be said that the security here is tight, and even if the house is not closed at night, the home is not afraid of thieves at all."

William Chen is indeed quite satisfied with the location here, which can be said to be the most central location in London.

Through Tim Toledo's introduction, William Chen knew that so far, this has been the headquarters of the Liberal Democrats in England.

The LDP was formed in 1988 from the merger of the Liberal Party and the short-lived Social Democratic Party.

It was the third-largest party in the UK Parliament, after the Conservatives and Labour, and held 57 seats in Parliament, the third-largest party since the 1930s.

The mansion has always been occupied by the leader of the Liberal Democrats, with offices downstairs and living upstairs. The party leader receives members of the party and other guests here.

But now in the face of the economic crisis, the Liberal Democratic Party moved out of the mansion at 4 Cowley Street in order to shrink its funds. It will become a private residence, so it has become the largest private residence in Westminster.

This mansion was built in 1904 and has become a national Grade II listed building in the UK. Therefore, after buying this mansion, the owner can only carry out basic interior decoration, how to change the external appearance of the building and the internal structure. Sexual changes require the approval of the City of London.

Tim Toledo took the two to start the tour downstairs:

"There are 5 living rooms and 7 bedrooms in the whole building. You can see that each living room is built in a different style and used to receive guests of different identities."

Following the visit, Tim Toledo introduced William Chen and Yang Mi and paid attention to their expressions.

"These parlors are allowed to be redecorated." William Chen asked.

"Yes, Mr. William, because this was the former seat of the Liberal Democrats, so there are so many parlors. As long as you don't change the internal structure of this house, you can decorate them at will without needing to inform the government. "

When Tim Toledo heard William Chen's question, he quickly said to him:

"You can completely transform these reception rooms into bedrooms, study rooms, entertainment rooms and other functions according to your own needs."

The mansion also has Italian-style stairs and an elevator that can accommodate 8 people.

There are two floors of underground space, including a wine cellar, storage room, vault, maid's room and a 13-meter indoor swimming pool.

Continue to visit, you can see that the entire mansion has a total of 7 bedrooms, all of which are luxurious suites, bathrooms, kitchens, and cloakrooms.

The master bedroom, which is larger in total than an ordinary two-bedroom apartment, is luxuriously decorated and has a strong Victorian style.

On the top of the building, there is also a roof for leisure viewing, furnished with sofas and reclining chairs. This viewing roof has an excellent line of sight. You can see many nearby historical buildings and the park scenery in the distance. You can have a barbecue here with friends. It's perfect for a party.

"What do you think of this house?" William Chen said to Yang Mi in Chinese.

"Very good, it's just too big. How many women are needed to fill such a big house."

Yo, this girl is yin and yang weird, I think it needs to be cleaned up.

"I think it's good, what's the price of this house?"

Hearing William Chen asking about the price, Tim Toledo was overjoyed and said quickly:

"Mr William, the other party's intention to sell this mansion is 35 million pounds. You must know that although the current economic situation is not good, there is no tendency for real estate in London to drop in price at all. There are still many wealthy people asking about this place. Property information, so there shouldn’t be much concessions in terms of price.”

William Chen understands that his words are indeed very reasonable. 40% of the world's super rich have purchased real estate in London. The main reason is not only because the real estate market here has been rising steadily, but also because the UK is backed by Europe and is the world's largest. In addition to the financial center of China, another major reason is to avoid tax.

There are countless luxury houses sold in London every year, but there are few real-name registered owners. Most of them are purchased in the name of companies, and most of them are registered in well-known tax-free areas. At that time, Hong Kong billionaire Liu Luanxiong purchased a 6-storey mansion in Eaton Square through an offshore company for 33 million pounds, becoming the first Chinese person to enter the London luxury real estate market.

Many people may not know that the biggest "player" in the offshore system of global free zones is not Switzerland or the Cayman Islands, but the United Kingdom.

With the British mainland as the center, there is a "tax-free network" covering the whole world: the core area includes the British Crown Dependencies, such as Jersey, Guernsey and the Isle of Man; the periphery is the 14 British overseas territories, such as the Cayman Islands , Virgin Islands and Bermuda, etc.; further extending, are the Commonwealth of Nations and former colonies, such as China HK.

They are inextricably linked to the UK, and huge amounts of money keep flowing into London.

Under UK law, various taxes are levied on the holding of property, especially when capital gains are generated from the transfer of ownership, but property held by an offshore company is often exempt. Some buyers even avoid inheritance tax by this means. In addition to not having to pay UK tax, foreign investors have the opportunity to evade prosecution from their home tax authorities or the judiciary.

In the name of an offshore company, it is an open secret in the London luxury housing market Due to the lack of tax payment, house prices have been repeatedly driven up. Therefore, in the context of the subprime mortgage crisis, when most real estate markets are still sluggish, the real estate market on this side of London has not declined at all, and it is precisely because there is demand in it.

So William Chen told Tim Toledo after thinking for a while, and was going to inform him that he was going to buy the house.

What he valued was that the house had a great location and was big enough, just as Yang Mi said just now, so that his women would have their own rooms when they came to London.

Of course, Chen William did as the locals do, and would not really buy in his own name. He would also conduct this transaction through the Meta Group's overseas offshore company. Those procedures would not require him to intervene. Can do it.

"Ah, so soon, dear, don't you think about it?"

Seeing William Chen, he decided to buy this house casually. Although Yang Mi was not the first to see his style of buying, buying and buying, he was surprised enough. You must know that this house is 35 million pounds, which is equivalent to Chinese currency. , that is more than 300 million, just spend it so simply?

Thinking that he can only take out 3 million in savings now, and Chen William spent 300 million to buy a mansion without blinking his eyes, this gap, hey, I don't want to, the more I think about it, the more depressed I become.

At this time, William Chen asked Tim Toledo to contact his subordinates, and then the subsequent transaction was handed over to his subordinates to complete. He only needed to hand over the house after the original owner of the whole house vacated the free items tomorrow. .

After saying goodbye to Tim Toledo and returning to the car with Yang Mi, William Chen called Abu:

"Mr. Roman? I just bought a house. When can I see the housekeeper you said?"