The idea of preventing (or limiting) wealthy investors – of any nationality – from acquiring London properties is folly, and a complete diversion from the real issue: we are not building enough houses.  It defies logic to make London a more difficult place to invest, when London is the self-styled home of international commerce.  That is a good thing, and fundamental not only to our economic recovery, but long-term growth.  Frankly, whether a Russian oligarch lives in his £50m pound property or not has little bearing on the average Londoner.

What does count is that we are not building enough ‘£500,000’ family homes.  That is partly a consequence of an over-reliance on flatted developments as the colour of the property owners’ passport, but also, the overall pace of development.  Flatted developments require forward-funding to make them viable.  If we don’t want units snapped up in Hong Kong (or London) property fairs, the free market or the state will need to think more laterally about how a developer is expected to fund a hugely complex, multi-phased scheme and balance the risk-reward.  And even if it is funded without foreign investment it will be substantially skewed towards smaller units.