Immigration: the other side of the story

There is another side to immigration – the millionaire migrants who are increasingly investing in the UK. People whose wealth means that you don’t hear politicians complaining about them coming over here and taking our penthouses.

It is easy to understand what attracts wealthy foreigners to Britain. They see a politically stable country with a solid currency that represents a safe haven for their cash. It’s easy to buy prime property in London and it’s a good investment. Prime property prices in central London have risen 50 per cent in the last 4 years. They are now at an all time high.

So, how do the rest of us benefit from this influx of cash? Channel 4 News takes a look in the last of our special series, Immigration Nation.

Millionaire’s service

I’ve been speaking to some of the businesses who service the needs of the millionaires who have moved here. An entire industry now exists to help those, who can afford it, to get the very best out of Britain.

Just because you can easily afford the fees at Eton or Harrow doesn’t mean you are going to have your kids accepted there. You will need to pay an educational consultant to help introduce you to the registrars and make sure your children pass the entrance exam.

You can buy your way into all the best parties but only if you are generously donating to all the right charities. Luckily you can pay a consultant to advise you on getting the most out of your philanthropy. In fact, you can pay a concierge service to do just about anything to make your new life in Britain run smoothly.

The Antique Wine Company will be delighted to help you fill the cellars of your new super-prime property. Stephen Williams will advise you on what to drink and when. He will work out how much you need ( he reckons most clients will get through about one thousand bottles a year and should be laying down ten years worth of wine to get started) and help you source it. Williams says that over fifty per cent of clients are wealthy immigrants and freely admits that he’d have a much smaller business if there weren’t so many of them here.

Changed economy

But it is hard to find much of this imported wealth that leaks out beyond the privileged parts of central London. What effect is it having on the wider British economy?

The most obvious impact can be seen on property prices. £5 billion is invested in prime London properties every year. Often bought by people have no intention of living in these homes for more than few weeks of the year. So they aren’t contributing to the local economy but they are helping to push prices up across the capital.

A report for the think tank The Smith Institute, London for sale?, concludes that London’s housing market has become distorted and dysfunctional, partly due to the huge rise in overseas investment in expensive properties for the super rich. They warn that investment on this scale could create a housing bubble inside London which will hurt everyone if it bursts. And they believe house price inflation caused by overseas buyers affects the affordability of homes in the whole of London.

In fact, houses in London’s 10 most expensive boroughs are worth as much as all the homes in Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland combined.

Good news if you own one of these fancy pads. Probably not so good if you don’t own one of them and never will.