[jacquesm]

The majority of the immigrants are not exactly in a position to buy houses, they might cause some rent inflation but you can't categorically tie immigration to house price inflation like that.

The better explanation is that real estate is just about the only thing that can boundlessly go up in price without any perceived increase in quality or performance and so it tends to be a sink for surplus wealth generated by a nation. On top of that there are a lot of wealthy people competing with each other for investing in the UK real estate market (and those are not just UK residents) and interest rates are at an historic low which tends to drive up prices.

[ppointerofact]

House prices in the UK, particularly in the south of the country, have been increasing above inflation for several decades. There was only a relatively brief decrease in average values following the financial crisis. This is because the major driver of house price increases in the UK is the limitation of the supply of developable land caused by Britain's inflexible and outdated planning system.

[toyg]

It's just that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

If London must continue being the ever-expanding world-beating hard-rocking sweat-soaking multi-megalopolis, then the surrounding countryside has to give. If the countryside has to be preserved, London must stop attracting people or even incentivize residents to move elsewhere.

I find it incredible that, because nobody can make a choice one way or the other, the rest of the country is forced to pay the price, as money flows to London "home investments" from more useful economic activity, the brain-drain towards the capital continues unabated, and brownfields keep rotting away.

[nextw33k]

> It's just that you can't have your cake and eat it too.

You can build up instead of out.