Possibly. I think the misunderstanding comes from making a comparison that I obviously haven't attempted to, and that no reasonable person would (basically, a

Possibly. I think the misunderstanding comes from making a comparison that I obviously haven't attempted to, and that no reasonable person would (basically, a strawman). I can't see how a suburban apartment can be as nice as a suburban house unless you're making a cost argument. Yes, perhaps an apartment at price X is better than a house at price X. (Perhaps at price X a house doesn't even exist). The point is that someone who already owns a decent home doesn't have to make that decision, and that describes huge swathes of the city. The financial decision is for newcomers who are attempting to push these people out (or push them in to inferior conditions). If you have a 4 bedroom semi in Zone 4 London then I cannot see an equivalent apartment. It doesn't even make sense to me. No apartment block on the same street could be nicer. Only if you compared it with, say, some skyscraper in the City does it make sense to even talk about it, and that's a complete lifestyle change.