In England, it’s not just the Royal Family that’s German.
The report – Who Owns
the City 2011 – suggests that a whopping 52% of The Square Mile is owned by
foreign investors. Germany remains the largest overseas investor with a 16%
share of ownership, followed by the US (10%). Development Securities is a
FTSE-listed company and the fact that anybody is buying up London (even those ghastly
Ethel Mermans) is good news for them and their shareholders.
Since the 1980s ownership of London’s Square Mile has
inexorably slipped from English hands. In 1980 less than 10% of the City’s
office stock was owned by overseas interests. Foreign ownership passed 25% in
the mid 1990s and 40% in the mid 2000s.
Listen to this for an exercise in turd-polishing on the part
of Development Secrurities Chief Executive Michael Marx (no relation of Karl’s, one hopes
at least): “London’s attractiveness to foreign investors has clearly been
undeterred by the widespread economic turmoil.” Marx goes on to smugly tell us
that “City offices are perceived to offer quality and transparency...”
That would presumably be the same transparency for which
English financial institutions are renowned the world over...
But the news from Marx isn’t all rosy: “The specialisation
of international financial services in London has served to make the fortunes
of owners and occupiers intrinsically linked, creating a highly volatile,
one-horse town.”
That one horse town is currently being occupied (on two
sites so far) by people who don’t own any horses at all and squatting would
seem a far more attractive alternative to paying rent to the nice German
landlords.
Perhaps we should change the name to
Frankfurt-upon-Thames...
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