One of the consequences of the exodus from London is that the same pattern of property specuation and displacement is spreading to other cities such as Bristol, Hastings and Margate. And while population shifts to other towns might seem to some like a good way of rebelancing the economy, the problem is that the majority of jobs remain in London; nearly every FTSE 100 company is headquartered in the capital. With a weak private sector in the regions and existing public sector jobs shrinking rapidly as a result of cuts to public services, it is not possible to contemplate real solutions to the housing crisis without profound structural economic change. [...]

This is what academics call 'ontological security', a sense of order and continuity in relation to experiences.