Tuesday 14 April 2015

Non-Doms on Thames? Who exactly is Nine Elms for?

Moving on from the relatively low key developments in Brixton featured in my last post, I took myself to Nine Elms. There is nothing low key about Nine Elms. With its Canary Wharf style agglomeration of high rise towers that look north across the Thames over Pimlico, residents will be able to view less than a mile away what will be for many of them their aspirational homes - Knightsbridge and Belgravia. Just look at the Lebanese restaurant that has bagged its place in the base of one of the Riverlight towers to get a clue where much of the marketing will be directed.

Non-Doms are in the news, but whatever the policy on this tax issue for the government elected in the May 2015 UK general election, there will still be a queue of the non UK resident rich to get themselves into prime real estate in London and get themselves a foothold on long term residency in Britain.

When it comes to immigration to the UK there is one rule for the rich and another for everybody else, however much more deserving their case may be. By February 2015, the UK has taken in only 143 refugees from Syria, but when it comes to the rich there is no problem.There will be 18,000 new homes built in Nine Elms. Of these only 15% will be 'affordable", way below the targets Councils should be striving to achieve, so there will be about 15,000 opportunities for newcomers to London.

If you are rich and desire UK residency then this is one way it can be achieved:
1. Buy £2m shares in Barclays Bank.
2. Buy yourself an apartment in Nine Elms
3. After 5 years of residency you get 'indefinite leave to remain' in the UK.

Actually, step 2 is not strictly necessary, but it's good to have somewhere to live. If you are in a hurry, buy £10m shares and after just 2 years you get that desirable 'indefinite leave to remain'. And once you have that 'indefinite leave to remain' you can flog your Barclays shares (probably at a profit) to some other super-rich bod who wants to come here too.

This all may seem a bit of a racket (yes, it is) but it has a fancy name - the Tier 1 (Investor) rules for entry into the UK. It's a bit more complicated than the 3 steps but the handy guide is at the link. There's a pretence of a points system - we've heard a lot about the one in Australia recently - but the way ours works is summarised on this Home Office website questionnaire "Do you have at least £2,000,000....?" Answer yes and you have 75 points and you're in!

The author of this blog is dubious of the benefit of the ultra rich coming to London because, by creating up-market ghettos and causing a ripple effect pushing up house prices all over London, they are contributing to the erection of The North Circular Wall, the barrier to ordinary people coming to live in London. In the main they are also not very nice people who will do what they can to ensure that anyone who gets a job because of their presence is paid only the minimum wage - and that will probably be at the end of a two hour bus commute...

More photos of regeneration and redevelopment in London

Rebuilding the Battersea Power Station chimneys, presumably so they do not fall on the new residents
It would be nice if Frank Gehry did something exotic, but so far it all looks rather conventional
The glint of the sun on "the Gherkin" in the distance. But now many will be moving here to do business in the UK?
The final Riverlight Towers being constructed
Some of the Riverlight apartments are already occupied - and this Lebanese restaurant will be opening soon
The tower at St George's Wharf - scene of a helicopter tragedy when it was nearing completion
Thankfully, very little housing makes way for the new housing. Old industrial buildings are still being demolished.