ISLINGTON NOW

For centuries, Islington has been a haven for immigrants in search of a better life. One of the most diverse boroughs in the country, with 20 per cent more residents born outside the UK than the national average, Islington has long prided itself as a home for the dispossessed and persecuted.

But now the deepening recession has heralded a new wave of immigration: wealthy foreigners looking to take advantage of falling house prices in the area. Lucy Gaynor, press officer for Hamptons International Estate Agents, says that the weakness of the pound has prompted a flood of interest from overseas buyers.

Wealthy foreigners are disrupting Islington's Italian community

She says: “We’ve had an increase of sales to foreign nationals of 92 per cent in our London offices. Hamptons International always has some interest from overseas buyers but there has been a rise in Italian buyers recently in Islington area, particularly Clerkenwell and Highbury.”

Clerkenwell has long been a focal point for Italians in London. The city’s oldest Italian cafes and ice-cream bars can be found down the winding backstreets and the Italian Church of St Peter on Clerkenwell Road stands as a testament to the enduring influence of the local community.

Founded in 1864 during the wave of immigration to the UK, the church runs services for Italians from all over London and on Sunday mornings, throngs of chattering people can be seen flocking through its black-and-gold gates.
Reverend Riccardo Wrobel, who has worked in the Church for four years, believes that the community is changing. Whereas previously, young Italians have flocked to London to make money to send back home, particularly those from deprived areas in the South, he says that now a new generation of older, wealthier migrants is moving here permanently.

He says: “The recession has caused a change in the mentality”, he says. “When I first came here, people were only coming here to look for work. But in the last two months, people are either returning home or looking to stay here permanently.”
He believes this change is due to the falling value of sterling. In the last year, the pound has dropped 20 per cent against the euro and 30 per cent against the dollar, while the average London house price has fallen 20-25 per cent. This means that for foreign buyers, many house prices are now almost twice as attractive as they were a year ago.
However, other local estate agencies dismiss the claim as mere speculation. Graham Stubbs, a Sales Executive from Kinleigh Folkard & Hayward, argues that this is the continuation of an already established trend.
He said: “Yes there are lots of foreigners but this is a multi-cultural area. I wouldn’t say that there has been an increase in interest from foreign buyers - I don’t know where Hampton’s get their figures from.”
“Islington has a lot of young money - lawyers, barristers, city workers - but everyone is taking the hit. The misconception is that no one is buying. The buyers are still out there, they just expect a bargain.”