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The author went to Eton and then Cambridge, moving to London for the first time after university. In the process, he himself pushed property prices up, and dire

The author went to Eton and then Cambridge, moving to London for the first time after university. In the process, he himself pushed property prices up, and directly contributed to gentrification. Obviously, when he moved there, that's when London was at its best. Since then, these upstarts and their money, moving there, pricing out the real Londoners... etc. It has always been thus.

laurencerowe 11y ago
Not really. London shrank until 1988 and only this year passed the previous historical population peak of 1939 as the UK economy has become completely concentrated in the city. The problem is exacerbated by the UK's lack of building. Thatcher stopped local authorities constructing homes (then half the total) and even private building has declined as its so hard to build. The result has been a huge wealth transfer to those who owned property.
001sky 11y ago
This is an absurd comment. Who do you think the Londers were previously?
- peteretep 11y ago
  People who had moved there a generation or two before. Unless you've made it rich, each generation gets pushed out at least a tube zone or two, or to commuter suburbs
  - 001sky 11y ago
    The capital has always been home to graduates of top uk schools; the current crop of gentrification has nothing to do with eton or oxbridge. It has to do with petrodollars and securization of the residential mortgage market and with inflationary monetary policy, and globalization of the wealthy upper-middle class. The absolute numbers of elite british students in each class is very small, and london is a very large city. Heck, even the amount of london-based students in the capital is an oder of magnitude larger, and many of them are non-uk or even eu and their rich parents are buying them flats...etc.
crdoconnor 11y ago
>he himself pushed property prices up, and directly contributed to gentrification. Not nearly as much as those Russian oligarchs and Arab oil barons did.
- peteretep 11y ago
  It's amazing, with the tens of thousands of Russian millionaires coming to London each year, stealing our houses, that the Russians have any left at all! Much less amazing: the same xenophobia and racism as always towards immigrants.
  - crdoconnor 11y ago
    I used to live in one of the most multicultural areas of London before the rents started going through the roof. I loved it. Now it's slowly turned into a string of soulless Gucci/Prada/Maserati shops, and all the people/immigrants who made it a genuinely nice place to live have been priced out by foreign investors. But sure, racism or whatever.
    - facepalm 11y ago
      How can an investor price somebody out? The investor only makes money if people are willing to pay rent for his property. So it is the willingness of people to pay the high rent that drives the prices up. Edit: HN doesn't let me write more comments. I still don't understand from those videos how they make money with the vacant houses. Also the articles are a bit weird, as if renting out a few houses in an expensive street would really have a significant impact on the housing issues of London.
      - jon-wood 11y ago
        The way the housing market is at the moment you can make money even if the property is empty just by waiting long enough.
      - SideburnsOfDoom 11y ago

laurencerowe 11y ago

Not really. London shrank until 1988 and only this year passed the previous historical population peak of 1939 as the UK economy has become completely concentrated in the city. The problem is exacerbated by the UK's lack of building. Thatcher stopped local authorities constructing homes (then half the total) and even private building has declined as its so hard to build. The result has been a huge wealth transfer to those who owned property.

001sky 11y ago

This is an absurd comment. Who do you think the Londers were previously?

peteretep 11y ago
People who had moved there a generation or two before. Unless you've made it rich, each generation gets pushed out at least a tube zone or two, or to commuter suburbs
- 001sky 11y ago
  The capital has always been home to graduates of top uk schools; the current crop of gentrification has nothing to do with eton or oxbridge. It has to do with petrodollars and securization of the residential mortgage market and with inflationary monetary policy, and globalization of the wealthy upper-middle class. The absolute numbers of elite british students in each class is very small, and london is a very large city. Heck, even the amount of london-based students in the capital is an oder of magnitude larger, and many of them are non-uk or even eu and their rich parents are buying them flats...etc.

crdoconnor 11y ago

>he himself pushed property prices up, and directly contributed to gentrification. Not nearly as much as those Russian oligarchs and Arab oil barons did.

peteretep 11y ago
It's amazing, with the tens of thousands of Russian millionaires coming to London each year, stealing our houses, that the Russians have any left at all! Much less amazing: the same xenophobia and racism as always towards immigrants.
- crdoconnor 11y ago
  I used to live in one of the most multicultural areas of London before the rents started going through the roof. I loved it. Now it's slowly turned into a string of soulless Gucci/Prada/Maserati shops, and all the people/immigrants who made it a genuinely nice place to live have been priced out by foreign investors. But sure, racism or whatever.
  - facepalm 11y ago
    How can an investor price somebody out? The investor only makes money if people are willing to pay rent for his property. So it is the willingness of people to pay the high rent that drives the prices up. Edit: HN doesn't let me write more comments. I still don't understand from those videos how they make money with the vacant houses. Also the articles are a bit weird, as if renting out a few houses in an expensive street would really have a significant impact on the housing issues of London.
    - jon-wood 11y ago
      The way the housing market is at the moment you can make money even if the property is empty just by waiting long enough.
    - SideburnsOfDoom 11y ago