Johnson defends London and foreign investment in property
LONDON mayor Boris Johnson yesterday stood up for foreign investment into London, dispelling claims that they were in part to blame for the property crisis as “absolute rubbish”.
One of the developments Johnson may have had in mind was the Qatar-backed Shard when he spoke at Mipim UK, the inaugural property trade show in London’s Olympia. He said that sales by volume to international property investors in London account for three per cent of the market on an annual basis. “To claim that it all somehow the fault of international investors – that we need to repel their enthusiasm… is absolute rubbish,” he told delegates.
Protesters gathered outside the Olympia venue ahead of Johnson’s keynote speech, with posters that read: “Bojo carves up (London) for his investor friends”.
They argued that London’s living costs are at least partly inflated by investors and property developers.