Who owns London? | 1980s London | Landowners | City of London | Reporting London | 1982

'Reporting London' Reporter Alan Hargreaves investigates who exactly owns London - and how the dissolution of the church by Henry the 8th changed the face of London for ever.
First shown: 16/02/1982
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Quote: VT26083

[@gord307]

Nearly 40-years on and the figures still blow my mind...

[@MrFlyingguy]

Back then we called a thousand Million, a thousand Million.... never a Billion

[@firehot006]

Indeed. A British Billion used to be a Million Million.

[@wesmatron]

@@firehot006 That's because a Bi means two. A British billion is still a million million to anyone with a decent education. The Americans started calling a thousand million a billion as it wanted to create billionaires. Idiots.

[@GlasshouseandGarden]

@@wesmatron I think it just standardises the multiples (1000 nanometres = 1 micrometer; 1000 micrometres = 1 millimetre, 1000mm = 1m, 1000m = 1km etc).

[@rjjcms1]

Correct,some people used to say that a British billion was a million million and that an American billion was a thousand million. Understatement on one side vs hype on the other?

[@L-mo]

a _milliard_ was a thousand million and a million million was a billion

[@ivanahavitoff7308]

I miss 80s London. The soot, the grime, the sleaze, the dirty, the city, bombsites,

[@masterknife8423]

What's so good about that?

[@ivanahavitoff7308]

@@masterknife8423 It was a diff age and time. People who were alive in the 60s would say that was the best time. Or pre war babies would say the 50s were cool.

[@tonyclifton265]

yes indeed but how did we cope without halal butchers and mosques?

[@dizmop]

@@masterknife8423 It's nostalgia, London was a dump back then, people were clambering to get out, having said that, a pound went a long way and there was more opportunity

[@tonyclifton265]

@Shlomo Golnenbaum Shekelberg rather exist on a diet of ham egg & chips and shepherd's pie and have my country back with a 1950s demographic and commensurate crime rate thanks

[@mogznwaz]

I miss the days of well-dressed well-spoken presenters and factual reporting. It's only when you see it you realise how far away from that we've come, 😭

[@bobrew461]

All of that is still around. What news are you watching?

[@oakashthorn5714]

@@bobrew461 BBC Sky ITV..

[@MrFlyingguy]

@Shlomo Golnenbaum Shekelberg well said that person!

[@billpugh58]

@@oakashthorn5714 you need to open your eyes then, the suits are still there.

[@SlimHandle]

Yeah breakfast telly just about reporters looking flair instead of us being able to focus on the actual content unlike here

[@ef7480]

..and no mention of the square mile 'City of London'. We know who doesn't own that...

[@thesaltycabbage]

Back when TV was interesting and informative

[@johnmc3862]

And tv voices were overly posh.

[@hexonatapeloop]

There’s still loads of informative stuff. Have a look and stop moaning.

[@BOZ_11]

@@hexonatapeloop not on terrestrial TV there isn't. twit

[@rjjcms1]

There are plenty of interesting and informative programmes still around. One I've been watching a lot of recently on the much-maligned BBC is Simon Reeve's documentaries but there are numerous others.

[@tynkirbell599]

That Thames intro brings back memories

[@rjjcms1]

Incredibly nostalgic.

[@harperwelch5147]

This is pretty old. Is it all the same now? I imagine a fair amount of London is now owned by very rich foreigners.

[@MrFlyingguy]

Thank you for sharing such an insightful view on the Fabric of a city i have lived, worked and partied in for 3 decades but not threaded it all together..... the last paragraph perhaps the most poignant.

[@sikhpilot.]

What a gem of a video

[@FD-vj6hd]

I don’t believe that a tiny few should be born into such wealth rather than earning it, but still, it was a very interesting and good point he made at the end that massive estates allowed beautiful coordinated areas to be built, wouldn’t like to see london without belgravia, chelsea, pimlico, mayfair etc🏠🏠🏠

[@lukecooper1179]

Why shouldn't your son benefit from your own wealth though?

[@j0nnyism]

Yea I hate the fact I was born in Mayfair and went to Eton

[@organichuman]

@@lukecooper1179 The same reason for replacement migration, communists.

[@lukecooper1179]

@@organichuman care to elaborate? I can't make head nor tail of what you mean. Communism doesn't seem to bear any relation to replacement migration and neither relate to nepotism as far as I can tell

[@TheFatController.]

I'm pretty sure that you're only saying that because you don't have anything to pass on. If you worked your arse off and got a bit of something, you wouldn't want to give it away when you die would you? I mean, we should try to tax the super rich for sure, but they always seem to pay no tax at all.

[@IDRISIRIS]

Great video . Greetings from London

[@Marvelousmelody631]

great journalism, love the old intro brings back memories

[@brianmurphy1757]

Before watching the video I would say the crown ,the church and the railways

[@Elias-ns2lg]

Does anyone know where you can get access to old videos like this that were official news broadcasts? I'd think that it would only be right that there is an archive somewhere that is available to the public

[@linzianna]

There is a page on FB called BBC archive that show videos of old news programmes etc, I'm sure they have a KZbin channel

[@ScotsmaninUtah]

an informative video froma British TV channel .. wow !

[@carlbarron1186]

What's so interesting if you view this documentary is the Queen doesn't even OWN Buckingham Palace UK GOV does, she's only a tenement :)

[@airhab]

Yes but technically the GOV is her Government not the people’s because the UK is a Monarchy.

[@ritemolawbks8012]

She doesn't own it in her individual capacity; i.e., she can't sell it, or if she were to ever abdicate, she wouldn't have rights to it. She's still essentially in charge of managing and preserving the Royal Estates. There's no UK government landlord coming in to tell her to trim the lawns or how many guest she can have at night.

[@AugustinTomasOBrienCaceres]

I wonder the 2021 version of this how's it like

[@pmacc3557]

Why would the church be interested in accumulating vast wealth?

[@groslait7814]

Religion is evil

[@spiridigliozzi544]

Are you joking?

[@pmacc3557]

@@spiridigliozzi544 Enlighten me kind sir/lady

[@spiridigliozzi544]

@@pmacc3557 If your saying that it’s ethically wrong for them to accumulate wealth, I can also tell you that you are right, but if you are asking why they are interested in it, the answer is simple: secular power. The men of the Anglican church are all men like us and so they love money, wealth, power and all those bad things, they are not all saints that only thing about their soul. I’m Italian, so I can also talk about our church, the Roman one; do you think that our church is poor? The poop whit the Catholic Church is probably the more powerful and ancient surviving for-profit company of the world. Small anecdote: the roman church invested 20 milions on a company that produces morning after pills, while professing that abortion is the murder of an innocent. And last thing, the bank of the italian church, called IOR, translated in english as “Institute for the Works of Religion”, is used whit all the ensuing advantages by the rich italians and probably also by the leaders of the mafia.

[@pmacc3557]

@@spiridigliozzi544 yes grazie. Iv heard about their bank scheme. It crazy that they profess to be so pure but why don't more Catholics know about this? Also they own a good chunk of London property. Its far from the business of saving souls they are.

[@Psych911]

No mention of the little hat brigade of course

[@Adam-qv2bd]

Why was that blurred out?

[@jasonayres]

Well, you know Dads and technology.. "What's this button do?"

[@sikhpilot.]

Surely there's a more concrete reason why it was blurred out.

[@Gent82]

It's a rights issue. From the small amount visible, it looks like they were showing a painting or etching which would have it's own copyright. They could have just cut that segment out entirely, but then you'd lose the interesting voiceover, so they just blurred it out.

[@bismillahali7784]

A scantily clad lady walked past the scene that's wot

[@jakecavendish3470]

I'm just amazed that in the 1980s 75% of the land in Wesminster was owned by Bananarama and Rod Hull 😮

[@simonba9944]

👍🏻👍🏻

[@DMWBN3]

That old Thames TV 📺 intro & start brings back some memories., along with the voice of Trevor McDonut. Knew the church was awash with pedos' but not with high end property. Is this still the case?

[@kiwitrainguy]

Great wealth and pedos seem to go together.

[@hexonatapeloop]

But if you went to the worst council estate in the country you’d find all the houses look the same so there goes your argument in the bin. A nice area is a nice area, if each block is in a different style then you have more variety. It’s got nothing to do with uniformity and i find those pillared white blocks in belgravia quite tedious.

[@robbibittybob20]

Selling a hospital for 23 grand is absurd. What a waste.

[@peterbradshaw8018]

Buy land they are not making it anymore.

[@amittole]

the Dutch: Am I joke to you?

[@blondon1050]

Tony soprano

[@uydudanbak]

who owns church? and 40 yrs later any changes?

[@QuadMochaMatti]

Satan owns the church.

[@Westhamsterdam]

Good question, I would state the Queen or Royal Family, they are head of the institution.

[@888ssss]

i just love everything about london apart from the house prices.

[@derin111]

Amazing how the figures of the sums of money have changed today.

[@tylero8595]

Hundreds of billions now.

[@Law-of-love]

“ a thousand million pounds “ - he said - clearly “billions “ is a post 80s term - that’s inflation 😮

[@bobrew461]

The next time you want to donate to a TV charity... Remember this show and THINK TWICE!

[@Westhamsterdam]

Who owns the City of London? Who really was responsible for the blitz around the City of London. It´s absolutely staggeing that St. Pauls was speared!

[@j0nnyism]

Don’t sell your property and you’ll always have a curates egg

[@peterembranch5797]

?? Do you know what a curate's egg is?

[@frankgarrett242]

Now it’s arabs, Russians and Chinese.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

They own property not land.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

Is there a problem with that?

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

@Petre Nimicitul it belongs to whoever is willing to work for it. If immigrants are who work for the property, then it belongs to them.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

@Petre Nimicitul I'm not following

[@sn6007]

Yet people look at these old 80s videos and blame everything being a shithole on some people that are a different colour coming in..

[@robertorhymes]

Great tax dodge a trust

[@tombo5102]

You still have to pay tax on a trust on a regular basis

[@robertorhymes]

@@tombo5102 No you don't

[@serinadelmar6012]

@@robertorhymes yes you do! Only exception would be a vulnerable person/disability trust.

[@robertorhymes]

@@serinadelmar6012 How about the national trust and an offshore trust Do they pay tax?

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

from adriatic to baltic warsaw to kiev you got red curtain from compliments of marshall ft knox lambo 350 onassis socrate artistocracy scorpio cold new anti freezer

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

hidepark and jerkell island

[@andyhartley]

"Swinging Chelsea" .... hahahahaha

[@paulstevens6043]

Why is that funny? I'm American.

[@andyhartley]

@@paulstevens6043 Let's just say Chelsea in 2021 is nothing like the Chelsea of 1982.

[@rjjcms1]

Or 1967.

[@johnholt9399]

We should be looking at this more today and how it is taxed - should be a land/wealth tax and the legal status of all aristocracy should be abolished

[@manmaje3596]

No.

[@lukeylukeluke2]

@@manmaje3596 myes

[@manmaje3596]

@@lukeylukeluke2 Try it.

[@lukeylukeluke2]

@@manmaje3596 what problem would you have with it?

[@jetyn8]

Tax is FAKE and is not necessary,

[@JackKing12.]

Born with a golden spoon...

[@floopi66]

the rothschilds own london who doenst know this LUUUL

[@CARLIN4737]

just staggering. jaw dropping nepotism.

[@johnmc3862]

British thing.

[@kanwal1173]

Rome!

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

margret iron haul

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

cmon by minimum cost maximum loot 450 gazillion pound

[@saborfrancias]

The 1llum1n4t1s

[@EgoShredder]

✡️ 🕎

[@tinfoillivesdontmatter8609]

Tinfoil alert!! 😂😂

[@bac1111967]

I miss London before the invasion. I cant go back and feel happy. I worked in the city and I loved it with all my heart, we were busy, happy and had a common goal. Now we have a group of selfish factions that have maimed the true heart of London, but I am so annoyed that Londoners have let it happen.

[@patlynch9969]

The City of London might’ve let it happen (and probably made a fortune) but ordinary Londoners didn’t have much power to stop it. 40 years of neoliberalism and deregulation.

[@minixtvbox]

13 Tory years-Afrikaan swamp uk

[@SnabbKassa]

Everyone knows London belongs to Sarah Cracknell

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

the king is church of england

[@twinturbo5212]

Clearly, Chlna and Russia own London, keep up

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

Chinese and Russian investors own some property, not land.

[@stevelam5898]

No they don't, the British are smart enough keeping the freehold for themselves.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

@@stevelam5898 smart enough? Do you realise there is nothing wrong with selling property to someone who is no lt from England? That's how a globalized economy works, you sell to others.

[@twinturbo5212]

@@stevelam5898 freehold

[@anthonymullen6300]

Mediaeval aristocratic teft. The state should take all the lands back.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

The people should take all land into their own hands

[@CalvinsWorldNews]

For the most part I call myself an anarcho-capitalist. The free market is everything, Except I do think that inheritance should be taxed heavily. You can teach your kids to work hard and whatever belief system you want but there's zero moral purpose in a state where some kids randomly 'luck' into owning vast wealth. Inheritance should be treated as income: you inherit a £3m house you didn't ever pay for? You should pay £1m in tax, maybe have to sell it, but be glad you got anything.

[@benbenjan811]

No. I disagree. I'm libertarian and inheritance tax is mega theft. See...you buy a house. You already paid taxes from your salary. Why tax twice?

[@CalvinsWorldNews]

@@benbenjan811 I’m saying the kid who did nothing to work/pay for it should be taxed as if it’s income. There is no benefit to society of having a leasure class, generations of a family that have never worked but use their wealth to pursue policies that only affect others and generally attack business owners.

[@robbibittybob20]

How would roads, education, and health be maintained?

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

un got ismael

[@021om6]

I am going to kill my legal fiction and create a power of attorney for my new entity and put it into a trust. 🥳

[@philthornton1382]

Looks really nice, no halal butchers

[@startmakingsense2071]

how many halal butchers do you know?

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

Why is the existence of halal butchers a problem?

[@sn6007]

Choke on ur bacon mate

[@thejoin4687]

Back when you only had halal bakers. Good times.

[@MilesBellas]

0:20 Nepotism. . British society is a nepotistic hierarchy of violence not an equal playing field ie a democratic, egalitarian meritocracy?

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

sold to wealthy oil and oligard

[@swizzarmynige1585]

The left

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

You are quite wrong

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

in one swoop brittian lost everything in dunkirk swim back by rubber tire fleet 5000 dingy running to dessert fox boom box chitty bang bang monty drop marketing gardens and for that winston suck harry ball

[@MegaShanes1]

The Royal family owns London.

[@MyCamilla1989]

But now sadly Qataris own more than even royals. A painful consequence of the 2008 recession.

[@je6874]

That’s funny… I think you mean the Middle East owns London rather than the Royal Family

[@MyCamilla1989]

@@je6874 Qataris, to be specific. And I don’t think it’s funny.

[@BlueSky-tw6iq]

Did anyone here actually watch the video?

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

the big 3 fdr dead winston smoking bumber butt 46 you know

[@Ardass486]

Islam owns london

[@timboatfield]

Put the crack pipe down and step away

[@Ardass486]

@@timboatfield Truth hurts hey

[@timboatfield]

@@Ardass486 lol you tube

[@bismillahali7784]

Neither the Church of England nor the Royal Family not even the Duke of Westminster are Muslim. It is only that the mayor is Muslim but he certainly doesn't own it

[@timboatfield]

@@Ardass486 The UK is owned coast to coast by The Crown, except(but not realy) the City of London*, as are all the UK territories, including USA Inc.** *Sorry if i'm confusing you more, you probably don't know what the City of London is. **Yea the truth really hurts. ;)

[@saigonmonopoly1105]

trash from the empires got to bury some where

[@quantumsneak1773]

Rothschild

[@colinbellew3020]

The Rothschild owns London

[@SabMCMLXIX]

i dont like London at all. I don't know how Brits manager such a good reputation.

[@lmao.3661]

because london isn't britain

[@SabMCMLXIX]

@@lmao.3661 so boring and unfriendly everywhere. we visited cornwall and wales. People full of attitude ...

[@tamaracarter1836]

@@SabMCMLXIX Oh really? I completely disagree. Now for me, my favourite thing to do when exploring England is “not” go and see London; instead I much prefer exploring the gorgeous countryside (e.g. beautiful historic villages/ market towns, medieval castles, churches, stately homes, ancient monuments, natural sites, gardens... etc), and “smaller” historic cities (e.g. Bath, York, Cambridge, Oxford, Canterbury, Chester, Salisbury, Durham, Wells, Lincoln, Winchester, Norwich, Ely, Brighton... etc) - despite all of this, I absolutely still LOVE London! I mean it truly is one of the greatest cities in the entire world and contains just about everything a tourist could possibly ask for (tonnes of history, countless architectural treasures - including many UNESCO sites, culture and tradition, world class museums, theatre and retail, fantastic food from all over the world, lively and safe atmosphere [for a city its size, e.g. New York has 2.5 to 3 times more murders per 100,000 people per year], great pubs, brilliant public transport, huge amounts of green space etc); certainly could *never* be labelled as “boring”.