‘Super-rich foreigners are “forcing” the old money elite out of London’s prime postcodes.’ So declares London’s Evening Standard newspaper – confirming what the rest of us knew anyway.
Indeed it was in the Spectator three years ago that I pointed out that central London was turning into Venice – a zombie city devoid of actual life with absentee foreign owners undermining its identity. The lights aren’t on and no one’s at home, because they’re in Monaco or Dubai or Shanghai. And now, thanks to a new report, we all – including even the Evening Standard’s property correspondent – know it’s true.
According to Dr Luna Glucksberg of the International Inequalities Institute (good grief!) at the LSE, wealthy folk living in London’s most exclusive areas now feel they are being displaced by rich foreigners. And Gucci-esque estate agent Strutt and Parker has figures to prove it: it says that 60 per cent of prime London property was bought for overseas buyers in 2014, a trend which can only have been accelerated by the pound plummeting in value post-Brexit.
‘Wealthy individuals and families that live in London’s most exclusive areas no longer feel able to compete at the top end of the capital’s property market,’ opines Glucksberg.
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