Cash-Rich

In this month's Red Book update we make a series of predictions about the residential market in the year ahead. One of them predicts the dominance of the market in the short term by the cash-rich. Put simply, the road to home ownership for most people starts with a mortgage. Pre Lehmans they were giving them away, now you'll have to stump up between 20% and 30% for the deposit. If you're cash-rich, like Hong Kong based billionaire Joseph Lau, who paid £33 million for a house in Eaton Square last weekend, you probably don't even know what a mortgage is. The Standard has the story.