Charity watchdog probes property firm linked to Prince Charles’ failed eco development

The Scottish Charity Regulator will look into 11 purchases made by Havisham Properties

The Prince of Wales reportedly gave an honour to Lord Brownlow, owner of Havisham Properties, after he bought houses at Knockroon eco village (Reuters)

An investigation has been launched into payments made by a property company that reportedly bought homes on Prince Charles’ failed eco development in Ayrshire.

The Scottish Charity Regulator has confirmed it will look into 11 purchases made by Havisham Properties on Knockroon, a development intiated by the heir to the throne as part of regeneration plans around the nearby Dumfries House estate, the Observer reports.

The homes on the estate owned by The Prince’s Foundation, which the royal initially envisioned would constitute an eco village intended to regenerate the the former mining community, are believed to have been bought between 2012and 2017.

A spokesman for the charity watchdog said: “We can confirm that the work of Havisham Group and property transactions relating to the Knockroon development in Ayrshire forms part of our overall investigation, work on which is ongoing.”

It comes after reports in the Sunday Times that the future king gave an honour to Lord Brownlow, the owner of Havisham Properties, after he made the Knockroon purchases, which totalled £1.7 million.

The Tory peer was made a trustee at the Prince’s Foundation and later made a Commander of the Victorian Order in 2018. A CVO can be awarded by the monarchy without the recommendation of the prime minister.

It is alleged that the donations by Brownlow were made to help bail out the development after just 31 of the planned 770 homes were built on the £20 million estate.

The tycoon reportedly completed his purchase of the homes in 2018 and stood down as a trustee, at which point he was awarded the royal honour at Buckingham Palace.

“Lord Brownlow was appointed CVO in 2018 in recognition of his role of chair of the charity the Prince’s Foundation for Building Community,” a Prince’s Foundation spokesperson told the Sunday Times.

It comes after a royal source claimed that Prince Charles will no longer handle large cash donations to be passed to his charities after he was criticised for reportedly being presented with €3m (£2.6m) in cash - some of it in a suitcase - from a former Qatari prime minister between 2011 and 2015.

The Sunday Times reported the future king personally accepted the contributions to his charity the Prince of Wales’s Charitable Fund (PWCF) from Sheikh Hamad bin Jassim, who led Qatar’s govermment between 2007 and 2015.

Brownlow shot to fame after prime minister Boris Johnson asked him to authorise cash for a refurbishment of his taxpayer-funded Downing Street flat in November 2020.