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Election '15

Regeneration Game

In part two, we meet the people hoping to get rich off London's regeneration at the MIPIM international property trade show.

In the run-up to the 2015 general election, a war is going on for the right to live in London. Rapid gentrification—praised as "regeneration" by local councils and property developers, derided as "social cleansing" by critics—is breaking up established communities. In some cases, families who've lived in London for generations are left homeless; in others, they are forced to move across the city or out of it completely. Meanwhile, the real estate opportunities are making lots of people—many of whom do not actually live in London—very rich.

For the first time, the international property trade show MIPIM comes to London. Host Daisy-May Hudson dresses up to meet those planning the city's regeneration. At the trade show, Mayor Boris Johnson gives a speech lauding the increase in London property prices and welcoming foreign investment.

Afterwards, Daisy receives an email from a resident struggling in Barnet, North London—where people's homes are being knocked down to be replaced by a Barretts development—and finds out firsthand what it feels like to be living every day with the prospect of your community being demolished.

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