The London boroughs of Westminster, Kensington & Chelsea and Camden are some of the most popular with foreign owners.

Pure Property Finance analysed data from the Land Registry on overseas companies that own property in England and Wales. There were 10,938 in the City of Westminster, 5,847 in Kensington and Chelsea, and 2,363 in Camden.

In terms of areas outside London, 1,770 were in Manchester and 1,516 were in Liverpool.

Ben Lloyd, managing director at Pure Property Finance, said: “Some of these areas are now becoming oversaturated and do not provide the opportunities they once did. However, others remain in high demand; high value locations will almost always hold their value and bring a solid long-term return on investment.”

Overseas investors will be charged a stamp duty surcharge of 2% from April next year.