Learning the house rules

摘要

London cabbies are a useful barometer of how life is for Joe Public. The journey from Westminster to the Bank of England in the Square Mile provided a telling insight into the nation's property obsession. The driver spent part of it taking a mobile phone call from a desperate letting agent trying to undercut the current firm keeping an eye on his buy-to-let flat. In the bizarre world of the UK's property market, even the humble cabbie who 'diversified the portfolio' has a stake in a housing market hit by a transatlantic meltdown. Inside the Grand Old Lady of Threadneedle Street, economists are still battling the credit crunch a year on. A key figure at the Bank of England in the housing debate is economist Kate Barker, who was commissioned by Gordon Brown in his chancellor days to review the housing sector. She is also a member of the Monetary Policy Committee, which sets interest rates. She spoke exclusively to The MJ in her capacity as a housing policy adviser.