
I am an experienced reader of newspapers and thus inured to their strongest provocations. But yesterday’s Evening Standard moved me to an almost hysterical despair.
My colleagues on the Homes & Property desk had described the latest trend in the London housing market: ex-council homes. For the bargain price of around £750,000 — enough to buy your own duchy in some parts of Britain — Londoners with ample savings and big wages can get a hefty mortgage on a sturdy 1950s two-bed in a brick mid-rise.