I bet there are wealthy UK politicians who have done the same. It's an utter farce. Meanwhile the rest of us who work and pay tax here have to pay stamp duty and comply with anti money laundering regulations. I had to provide copies of tax returns to show how I earned money to pay for a deposit.
These offshore companies still have to pay SDLT when they buy UK properties and also UK corporation tax on any rental income. Also subject to an additional Annual tax if the value of the property is above £500k, unless they rent it out.
But yes, when the individuals extract the profits they will likely be tax free in the jurisdictions the companies are resident and they’d Have to declare that in the country they are themselves resident and pay taxes there.
Strictly the lawyers and accountants have to take ML checks on their clients before taking them on. I recall attending one ML talk that said accountants were one of the worse for not making enough SARs.
It’s more the hiding of their identity which is why a lot of very wealthy investors use it and also to pass on the property to their children in a tax efficient way. Apparently this new register is also only available to HMRC.