CONTEXT 181 : SEPTEMBER 2024 23 URBAN HOUSING Whitechapel in 1985 closed in 2021, there being too few children left locally to sustain it. Super-gentrification Changing socio-economic factors over the past 20 years or so have contributed to a new strand of gentrification – what has been called ‘regentrification’, or ‘hyper-gentrification’, or, more commonly, ‘super-gentrification’ – whereby a new upper stratum of super-rich residents is taking over parts of London already gentrified, initiating a further cycle of change. With the stock of suitable houses or areas already exhausted, there is no alternative now for the super-rich but to re-gentrify those which have already been through the process. Who are these people? Much of this supergentrification is fuelled by the great wealth now generated by the City, with the internationalisation of City salaries, a bonus culture and new high-earning financial products, hedge funds and private equity firms. And there is a second, even richer group of foreign oligarchs, multibillionaire industrialists and global financiers with new extremes of wealth, ready to pay unthinkable sums for London houses. Nearly half of London property sales in 2020 went to overseas buyers, and a study in 2015 found London is the world’s top location for the super-rich, with nearly 4,500 individuals here with $30 million or more in assets. Where is this super-gentrification happening, and what are its consequences? The big magnets are the already elite central London districts like St James’s, Mayfair, Regent’s Park, Belgravia, Knightsbridge, Kensington, Notting Hill and Chelsea. But there are discernible differences here from the pioneer gentrification of the 1970s–80s. For instance, in terms of their treatment of the building fabric, the early gentrifiers, as we have seen, often came from liberal, humanities-educated backgrounds and generally appreciated the historical aspect of their houses and restored them with a degree of respect. The new supergentrifiers from global finance seem to have less interest in period aesthetics; their usual modus operandi is to rip out existing fabric, build extensions to allow more space for ultramodern interiors and excavate basements for private gyms, cinemas or swimming pools. For them, location is the key factor. Another difference from previous waves of gentrification is a lack of engagement with local communities. Early gentrifiers would often send their children to local schools, use local shops and so on; the new super-gentrifiers tend not to invest in or support local services. They operate outside the traditional British class system and existing cultural and social infrastructures. They have their own economy, whereby capital is invested in their housing and facilities like security firms, domestic service and private education. Very little of the money they bring is fed back into the local community. For the super-rich, the house is no longer simply a place to live but another investment or tradeable asset; a vehicle for wealth accumulation – a store for global money. In recent years this attitude has created a new buy-to-leave phenomenon, where the super-rich overseas buyers purchase prime London property at high prices with little intention of living there. This financialisation of housing further drives up other house prices, making it even more difficult for everyone else further down the food chain. Displacement also still takes place as a result, in this case not of the poor but of the previously well-off residents who used to dominate such areas. They then have to move further out, driving up prices in other parts of the capital. There is a threat to the vitality of these urban neighborhoods. Parts of Kensington and Chelsea are now ‘dead zones’, with empty houses patrolled by security guards and little in the way of street life. Corner shops and pubs close, community life breaks down. The danger is that, as in other global cities, the very creativity and diversity that made London special and attracted wealth to come here in the first place will disappear. Colin Thom is director of the Survey of London, the leading reference work on the history and architecture of the city. Since 2013, the Survey has been part of the Bartlett School of Architecture at University College London (UCL), where Thom also teaches architectural history and theory. Super-gentrification: a plan for basement excavation at 34 Old Queen Street, St James’s, Westminster (Image: Construction management plan of 2019 by Rigby and Rigby, courtesy Westminster City Council planning portal)
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