London

London is in the midst of a housing crisis, where housing is undersupplied, overly expensive and often of inadequate quality. The city’s population of nearly 9 million in 2019, is expected to grow to over 11 million by 2050. Whilst this generates a growing demand for housing, net additional dwellings decreased by 20% in 2018. House prices have now risen to an average of £470,000, and buyers are faced with an average house price to earnings ratio of 13:1. This situation has resulted from, and helped sustain, a flourishing real estate industry. However, faced with political and economic turbulence around Brexit, a devalued sterling over the last three years and growing pressure on development costs around land and viability, London’s housing market is facing a new set of challenges, many of which are evident in narratives around how to fund residential real estate development.

London researchers

Ann-Marie Webb, Callum Ward, Claire Colomb, Dan Durrant, Danielle Sanderson, Iqbal Hamiduddin, Jessica Ferm, Mike Raco (project lead), Nicola Livingstone, Paul Moawad and Sonia Freire Trigo

Image: Matthew Foulds, unsplash

Recent London posts

Market maturity and investment in London’s Student Accommodation sector

No longer ‘alternative’? One of the most startling findings from the London team’s exploration of investment into residential real estate was the significant volume of capital flowing into the purpose-built student accommodation (PBSA) sector. Research on investment...

Planning for residential ‘value’ in London?

Image by David SamuelIn a seminar for the Department of Land Economy at the University of Cambridge, London WHIG team member Nicola Livingstone reflected on findings from a recently published paper that explores planning for ‘value’ through densification. The paper...

The Geographies of Viability Planning

In a recent new publication Whig researchers Jess Ferm and Mike Raco explore the geographies of viability-driven planning reform in England.Drawing on interviews and fieldwork in London and the North East region, the paper reflects on the variable outcomes and...

Towards an understanding of the role of debt

Given our focus on investment into residential real estate, an essential dimension is understanding how housing fits more broadly within the financialized economy of the UK (and the Netherlands and France). An important but under engaged within urban studies part of...

Community Led Regeneration: the London Case

UCL has a long-standing relationship with Just Space, an umbrella organisation for community groups across London. Whilst the WHIG project is not explicitly working with them at this stage, their work is highly relevant to understanding the planning context of London...

Hamlet Without the Prince

Hamlet Without the Prince or Why We Need More Research on How Private Sector Actors See the World.I recently gave a paper in the Department of Urban Studies at the University of Glasgow on the subject of ‘Seeing Like an Investor’. The talk was based on a paper that...

Towards some clarification on financialisation?

Existing debates on ‘financialization’ in urban studies, and beyond, are intense. Given the nature of the WHIG project, we will inevitably be addressing the issue of financialization, financializing and financing head on. On Thursday 23 May, The Open University hosted...

Law at the Margins of the City

Law at the Margins of the City: a day on law and financialization, Birkbeck, London. Recent debates in urban studies on finance (and financialization) have highlighted new investors in urban development.Former UN special rapporteur on housing revisits London Luckily...