The Mayor of London has asked LSE London to investigate the impact of foreign investment on London’s housing market

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.