Foxtons fuelling a different sort of Northern Powerhouse

Outlook

Foxtons have said that they are satisfied that their fees are clearly laid out in their terms and conditions (Mary Turner/ Getty)

What’s that? A warning from Foxtons that London’s property market is “taking time to recover” from a General Election-induced hiatus? A whinge about transactions at “historically low” levels, thanks to “price growth and stamp duty changes”?

Were the anti-gentrification protestors who in April caved in the window of the Brixton branch of an estate agent that has become the poster child for London’s property boom being a little hasty?

Hardly. What it says might be true, but its branches are still spreading like Japanese knotweed and its revenues are rising. Meanwhile, the tiger market it is riding is still squeezing out anyone not in receipt of a six-figure salary. Foxtons is making hay from the capital’s transformation into a wealthy ghetto and the people who made it such an vibrant city in which to live are having to look at alternatives.

The Government claimed a “march of the makers” would create a “northern powerhouse”. Its policy towards the steel industry, among others, is giving the lie to that claim. But a consequence of the brutal market forces it has unleashed could at least have a side benefit. Might we see a march of the musos creating a cultural powerhouse in the North’s great cities? It’s looking increasingly likely.