You must not be familiar with the intricacies of UK property ownership. Most desirable properties in London are owned by a small group of aristocratic people wh

You must not be familiar with the intricacies of UK property ownership. Most desirable properties in London are owned by a small group of aristocratic people who really do just hold property, and things which give them political influence like newspapers. Corporate ownership of buildings is not as prevalent as, say, in New York (except in the family business sort of way). Part of this is tradition, but also the quirks of UK property law which makes it very hard to trance ownership of property, and so these people who value their privacy prefer property over other more liquid investments they’d have to disclose.