Quarter of new homes in Southwark are sold overseas

The report on Overseas Investors in London's New Build Housing by researchers at the University of York was published last month.

Recent examples of new homes in SE1 marketed for sale overseas include:

• The Taper Building in Long Lane, marketed as a 'garden suburb' to Hong Kong buyers
• One Blackfriars, showcased in Doha, Qatar
• Blackfriars Circus, promoted at a sales exhibition in Hong Kong
• Two Fifty One Southwark Bridge Road, promoted in Bahrain

"First time buyers are being priced out of our local community as they are unable to compete with the money that is being poured in by overseas investors," said Cllr Adele Morris, councillor for Cathedrals ward and Southwark Lib Dem spokeswoman on regeneration and planning.

"This is an issue that Southwark Liberal Democrats have been raising time and time again and the Labour administration has done little about.

"We need high-quality, affordable homes for local people not for overseas investors who see homes as a safe investment for their money."

Mayor of London Sadiq Khan said: "I am carefully considering the research findings and the report's recommendations and will publish my response shortly."

Cllr Mark Williams, Southwark's cabinet member for regeneration and new homes, said: "Southwark Labour is committed to tackling the housing crisis by building the homes that our residents so desperately need.

"We are building 11,000 new council homes by 2043, and we are also securing new affordable homes from private developments.

"However, many developers need early pre-sales to fund the schemes getting under way in the first place.

"Housing finance needs radical reform in this country as it is very difficult to get a mortgage on a new property that won't be built for several years. This is something that the Government needs to urgently review."

• Southwark councillors debated a Liberal Democrat motion about new homes in the borough last week; listen to the debate in full below.