The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has asked LSE London to conduct one of the most thorough investigations into the impact of foreign investment in London. This inquiry comes amid growing fears about rising costs in London. For the past few years, we have carried out research on the overall state of affairs of the housing market in London in relation to the broader UK context, as presented in our report, Housing in London: addressing the supply crisis. This year we published two major reports making recommendations on how to accelerate housing production, as presented in our report, Accelerating housing production in London: main findings. Our second major report this year, Rising to the challenge: London’s housing crisis, takes all of our recommendations and findings, and places them in the context of changing political and economic circumstances. Throughout these reports, the role of foreign money has been one of the major themes we’ve addressed. Over the next few months, we will be happy to be of service in the Mayor’s investigation. The key questions the Mayor wants us to answer include: how many new homes are sold to buyers based overseas, how many of these homes are kept empty, and how dependent are developers on foreign buyers.

For more information on our research outputs that relate to the specific theme of the role of foreign money, please click here.

Matthew Taylor and Robert Booth have covered the story for The Guardian. Click here to read their article.

We also produced a video that addresses some of the questions and debates on the topic. On the 27th of February 2015, a group of researchers and housing stakeholders visited the Greenwich Peninsula to learn more about the role of foreign investment in accelerating new residential development in London. The site visit was organised as part of LSE London’s knowledge exchange project, Housing in London: addressing the supply crisis.