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REFORM LEADER LORD OFFOR OWNS A MANSION ON LOVELY LOCH LOMONDSIDE

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Thousands of Scots don’t have a home. Some new MSPs have more than one …

by Bill Heaney

Some of Scotland’s new MSPs are landlords, own multiple homes, or benefit from lucrative holiday lets in areas among those worst hit by the housing crisis, The Ferret investigative journal revealed at the weekend.

At least 10 of the Scottish Parliament’s newly-elected members own more than one home, while six returning MSPs declared additional properties in the previous Holyrood session.

Among those identified by The Ferret are a Reform UK MSP representing the Highlands and Islands with four homes in Edinburgh, as well as the party’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, who recently professed to owning six homes, one of which is a mansion on Loch Lomondside.

Lord Malcolm Offord does not have a publicly confirmed net worth, as he has consistently declined to disclose a specific figure. However, the multimillionaire financier has acknowledged a high level of wealth, publicly stating that he owns six houses, five cars, and six boats.
Known Financial Details:
  • Real Estate: Property investigations reveal he owns a £1.6 million mansion on Loch Lomond (purchased without a mortgage), a £2.15 million duplex in London’s Knightsbridge/Belgravia area, and several other properties across the UK.
  • Business Assets: He operates a family investment company (Badenoch Investments) and holds shareholdings in a variety of industries, including whisky distilleries, air pollution monitoring, and leisure.
  • Public Statements: During a televised debate ahead of the Scottish Parliament elections, Offord defended his success by stating that in his 40-year business career, he has employed thousands of people and paid £45 million in tax.

The Ferret also found two politicians – from Reform and the SNP – typically charging more than £1,000 a week in the coming months for holiday lets in rural areas which have declared housing emergencies.

A housing emergency was declared when the Scottish Parliament passed a motion in 2024, with 14 councils, including West Dunbartonshire and Argyll and Bute, having done so independently.
Luxury hotels and dinner dates: Who is lobbying our politicians?
High-end dinners are a fraction of over 29,000 lobbying meetings in the last parliamentary term. But campaigners argue that because the lobbying spend is not declared, its significance is underplayed.

Reform UK’s leader in Scotland, Malcolm Offord, made headlines after bragging about his six houses, six boats and five cars during a debate ahead of the election.

Homes under his name in Scotland include flats in Edinburgh and Greenock, and, readers of The Dumbarton Democrat will be particularly interested to know, a mansion on the banks of Loch Lomond – bought for £1.65m cash in 2024.

The sale price of Offord’s Edinburgh flat is listed as “implementation of missives,” – which is sometimes used to conceal typically high-value property sales from the public land register. Offord also reportedly owns a London flat, which he reportedly paid £2.15m for in 2017.

He is said to have claimed one million people came to the UK in the 20th century, and seven million people have come to the UK since 2000. This is not accurate.

More than one in four Scottish MPs own second homes or rake in tens of thousands of pounds in rent as landlords, The Ferret investigation found.
Westminster’s newly published register of interests shows that 15 of Scotland’s 56 MPs said they own additional properties in towns and cities.

Claire Baker, Scottish Labour MSP, and Paul McLennan, former SNP housing minister.  Top of page picture is of Loch Lomondside, where Reform leader Lord Offor MSP owns a mansion.

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