The Guardian: "It’s no longer just London: now Britain is encircled by the property sharks"

"Once the capital was the prime target for foreign speculators, now it’s all our major cities. We could have stopped them, but we didn't"

Link to web site

"A single generation transformed London into a capital where no person with normal resources could hope to own a modest home. It transformed London into a city where young people couldn’t start their careers, unless they had parents who could help them out. It transformed London into a place where every flat was in a block of 'luxury apartments', its price arranged in some weird dimension that had absolutely no connection to the wages paid at the coffee shop on the ground floor.

"Everyone knew what the problem was. Property prices had exploded, fuelled by international wealth. The government was reluctant to halt the bonanza. It made people who already owned property in London feel rich, confident and willing to keep on spending. The party continued.

"Exploding property prices meant property became an even more attractive investment, the best investment of all. You could buy a property, let it, and have a healthy income as well as a huge capital gain. Or not even bother to let it. What were, to some, crazily unaffordable rents were, to others, mere peanuts, not worth the smallest amount of hassle."