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The house-pricing problem is not due to startups (although this has put pressure on/gentrified a few small areas). The startup scene is a very small part of Lon

by fredley 10y ago

The house-pricing problem is not due to startups (although this has put pressure on/gentrified a few small areas). The startup scene is a very small part of London as a whole. It is the combination of under-investment in new housing, building the wrong types of new housing (vast luxury flats instead of smaller, affordable units), and selling large amounts of it to foreign buyers as investments (often left unoccupied), putting further pressure on the remaining stock. Many other factors too - it's a big complicated mess, but these are some of the biggest ones.

rwallace 10y ago
Oh, you're right, startups aren't the main cause of the problem, but anything that moves out of London will help a bit, and it would certainly be good if people who want to create or work in startups had better options.
- fredley 10y ago
  Yeah, the extent to which the banking sector leaves might make an impact, but the collapse of sterling is probably going to drive more investment into London property, not less.
  - TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
    Unlikely while sterling is crashing. London prices will soon follow, as The Money leaves town. If there's a recovery it will be years from now, when there are easy profits to be made. Currently there are easy losses to be made, and no one wants that.
    - cyphunk 10y ago
      I think, from watching this happen in Berlin, most property investors are not looking for short gains. In Berlin I think the rent-protection laws pretty much force you to be a long term investor, if you are going to invest. I'd assume most property investors in London are also long term. As you mention, gains will be years from now. But unless the fundamentals of international capital change in those years, it's likely anyone with spare capital will find the 10 year wait on a London investment more than pays off during recovery.
digi_owl 10y ago
Sounds to me like the same kind of crap that has been going on everywhere since the 80s or there about. A while lot of household debt being funneled into a Ponzi scheme based on flipping properties.

by fredley 10y ago

rwallace 10y ago

Oh, you're right, startups aren't the main cause of the problem, but anything that moves out of London will help a bit, and it would certainly be good if people who want to create or work in startups had better options.

fredley 10y ago
Yeah, the extent to which the banking sector leaves might make an impact, but the collapse of sterling is probably going to drive more investment into London property, not less.
- TheOtherHobbes 10y ago
  Unlikely while sterling is crashing. London prices will soon follow, as The Money leaves town. If there's a recovery it will be years from now, when there are easy profits to be made. Currently there are easy losses to be made, and no one wants that.
  - cyphunk 10y ago
    I think, from watching this happen in Berlin, most property investors are not looking for short gains. In Berlin I think the rent-protection laws pretty much force you to be a long term investor, if you are going to invest. I'd assume most property investors in London are also long term. As you mention, gains will be years from now. But unless the fundamentals of international capital change in those years, it's likely anyone with spare capital will find the 10 year wait on a London investment more than pays off during recovery.

digi_owl 10y ago

Sounds to me like the same kind of crap that has been going on everywhere since the 80s or there about. A while lot of household debt being funneled into a Ponzi scheme based on flipping properties.