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No one gets the message in London. There should be high rise condo/apartment buildings like Manhattan, Hong Kong, Singapore, even Toronto, all over the place gi

No one gets the message in London. There should be high rise condo/apartment buildings like Manhattan, Hong Kong, Singapore, even Toronto, all over the place given the population but height restrictions persist so people live in cramped, miserable conditions. There are vested interest that make allowing this politically challenging, existing owners would see property prices plummet if this was allowed, and then there's some powerful people just block it for aesthetic reasons. Either way it can't continue without having an economic and innovation hit long term.

user5994461 9y ago
I'm not sure what you mean. There are quite a few skyscrapers in London. They are all new luxury properties and doesn't drop the price of anything.
buf 9y ago
New skyscrapers are going up all the time in London.
- rurounijones 9y ago
  Only business though no? OPs point is that there are no / not enough residential high-rises being built.
  - sievebrain 9y ago
    No, some are residential. I know someone who just moved in to the new skyscraper by Battersea power station
    - ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
      The Battersea / Nine Elms area has seen development over several years from when the American embassy announced they would be moving there, new tube stops are coming too but it’s just one targetted area only and the prices are totally crazy for anyone who is an ‘employee’ of any sort. Got your own multi million dollar business going? Then it’s no problem.
MrAlex94 9y ago
I'm not convinced London has a housing shortage. Or the UK for that matter. The problem is that anyone can buy a house in the UK and they've become investment vehicles. Also consider London has just reached its pre-WW2 population, and all the properties bombed most likely replaced by more efficient housing. I found a study about supply and demand for housing, but am struggling to find it. There's a post here which seems credible enough, related to the topic: https://medium.com/@ian.mulheirn/londons-housing-non-shortage-a059593432b5 https://medium.com/@ian.mulheirn/londons-housing-non-shortag...
- jonknee 9y ago
  > The problem is that anyone can buy a house in the UK and they've become investment vehicles. Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage?
  - kfarr 9y ago
    Yeah there's kind of a "goes with the territory" thing with large cities with high demand -- they are investment vehicles because demand for housing is so high and growing relative to available supply.
  - beguiledfoil 9y ago
    >Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage? A shortage of housing? A shortage of ways to launder money? A shortage of safe assets that beat inflation? A shortage of network connected land? Emulate Tokyo is good advice, but not easy. There's a reason Tokyo is Tokyo and everywhere else looks nothing like Tokyo.
  - flukus 9y ago
    > Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage? Initially it probably did, but once the ball get's rolling it just implies that there are people willing to buy. That can be other investors in a bubble.
  - MrAlex94 9y ago
    If you're competing with the the whole world - sure. But I have a personal belief property is one of the things that shouldn't be so freely purchasable. Want to buy and own a property in the UK? Fine, be a UK citizen then. Look at how Denmark do it: "Unless you have lived in Denmark for a period of at least 5 years, you must obtain permission from the Danish Ministry of Justice (Justitsministeriet) to buy property. However, this restriction does not apply if you are an EU-citizen, and if the property is to be used as a permanent residence." https://international.kk.dk/artikel/buying-home https://international.kk.dk/artikel/buying-home http://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/family-and-legal-issues/real-property-purchase-in-denmark/ http://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/family-and-legal-issues... Seems reasonable to me. Maybe stop shell corporations based in tax havens from owning property as well? Seems they benefit from the income while paying that the government doesn't even get.
Spooky23 9y ago
London is a money laundering market, not a housing market.

user5994461 9y ago

I'm not sure what you mean. There are quite a few skyscrapers in London. They are all new luxury properties and doesn't drop the price of anything.

buf 9y ago

New skyscrapers are going up all the time in London.

rurounijones 9y ago
Only business though no? OPs point is that there are no / not enough residential high-rises being built.
- sievebrain 9y ago
  No, some are residential. I know someone who just moved in to the new skyscraper by Battersea power station
  - ajeet_dhaliwal 9y ago
    The Battersea / Nine Elms area has seen development over several years from when the American embassy announced they would be moving there, new tube stops are coming too but it’s just one targetted area only and the prices are totally crazy for anyone who is an ‘employee’ of any sort. Got your own multi million dollar business going? Then it’s no problem.

MrAlex94 9y ago

I'm not convinced London has a housing shortage. Or the UK for that matter. The problem is that anyone can buy a house in the UK and they've become investment vehicles. Also consider London has just reached its pre-WW2 population, and all the properties bombed most likely replaced by more efficient housing. I found a study about supply and demand for housing, but am struggling to find it. There's a post here which seems credible enough, related to the topic: https://medium.com/@ian.mulheirn/londons-housing-non-shortage-a059593432b5 https://medium.com/@ian.mulheirn/londons-housing-non-shortag...

jonknee 9y ago
> The problem is that anyone can buy a house in the UK and they've become investment vehicles. Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage?
- kfarr 9y ago
  Yeah there's kind of a "goes with the territory" thing with large cities with high demand -- they are investment vehicles because demand for housing is so high and growing relative to available supply.
- beguiledfoil 9y ago
  >Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage? A shortage of housing? A shortage of ways to launder money? A shortage of safe assets that beat inflation? A shortage of network connected land? Emulate Tokyo is good advice, but not easy. There's a reason Tokyo is Tokyo and everywhere else looks nothing like Tokyo.
- flukus 9y ago
  > Doesn't that imply that there is a shortage? Initially it probably did, but once the ball get's rolling it just implies that there are people willing to buy. That can be other investors in a bubble.
- MrAlex94 9y ago
  If you're competing with the the whole world - sure. But I have a personal belief property is one of the things that shouldn't be so freely purchasable. Want to buy and own a property in the UK? Fine, be a UK citizen then. Look at how Denmark do it: "Unless you have lived in Denmark for a period of at least 5 years, you must obtain permission from the Danish Ministry of Justice (Justitsministeriet) to buy property. However, this restriction does not apply if you are an EU-citizen, and if the property is to be used as a permanent residence." https://international.kk.dk/artikel/buying-home https://international.kk.dk/artikel/buying-home http://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/family-and-legal-issues/real-property-purchase-in-denmark/ http://um.dk/en/travel-and-residence/family-and-legal-issues... Seems reasonable to me. Maybe stop shell corporations based in tax havens from owning property as well? Seems they benefit from the income while paying that the government doesn't even get.

Spooky23 9y ago

London is a money laundering market, not a housing market.