A TALE OF TWO CITIES

The recent economic downturn that has left many workers jobless and in some cases homeless has not affected everyone quite as harshly. "Egyptian pays £37m for a sliver of Knightsbridge. An Egyptian billionaire has splashed out £37 million on a London flat as the overseas goldrush for metropolitan property continues. ....Many foreign buyers have focused on flats at One Hyde Park, where prices of more than £7,500 per sq ft have been reached. More than £1.4 billion of flats have been sold at the estate since it opened last year" (Times, 29 October) So while you can be stopped in the streets of London by some poor desperate, homeless person asking "any change?", somewhere not far away some billionaire is luxuriating in a splendid flat. RD