A spokesman said: “We can confirm that the Havisham Group’s work and property transactions relating to the Knockroon development in Ayrshire form part of our overall investigation, which is ongoing.”
Lord Brownlow, whose fortune is estimated at £271 million, hit the headlines last year when it emerged that he had helped fund the renovation of Boris Johnson’s Downing Street flat.
It was also recently reported that he had been linked with plans to potentially fund a £150,000 tree house for the Prime Minister’s son.
In 2012, Lord Brownlow’s property company began rescuing the Knockroon development by buying up some of the unwanted houses and converting them into rental properties and a cafe.
The eco-village, built on farmland bought by the prince when he bought Dumfries House, aimed to boost the local economy by protecting sustainable architecture and attracting people to the area.
But by 2015 Hope Homes, the developer working with the Prince’s foundation, had pulled out of the project and plans to complete all 770 properties had now been abandoned.
Havisham Properties is understood to have spent £1.7m buying 11 houses on the site, while other properties were bought on behalf of Dumfries House and are now let to staff who work at the nearby property.
Sales not declared as “related party transactions”
The prince’s foundation did not declare any of the sales as “related party transactions”, which is standard procedure designed to prove that the trustees knew the deals involved someone with existing links to the charity.
In 2013 – two years after Havisham Properties began buying houses in Knockroon – Lord Brownlow hosted a lavish 50th birthday party at Dumfries House, which can be rented out when the prince is not in residence.
In 2015, Lord Brownlow’s companies were awarded a £1.2m contract to build three villas at Dumfries House.
And in 2018, after resigning as a trustee of the Prince’s Foundation, Lord Brownlow was a guest at Buckingham Palace where he received a CVO, an honor awarded for outstanding, important or personal services to the Royal Family.
A spokesman for The Prince’s Foundation said: “Lord Brownlow was appointed CVO in 2018 in recognition of his role as chairman of the charity The Prince’s Foundation for Building Community.”
Lord Brownlow’s own charitable foundation has donated millions to a variety of worthy causes, including Macmillan Cancer Support and the National Association for Children of Alcoholics.
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