• THERE were 300 empty homes in Finsbury (between City Road and the City of London boundary at the Barbican), a census enumerator told me.

That’s a lot of empty properties. I wonder what an investigation would disclose? How many are luxury investment flats, ex-right-to-buy now used as holiday lets or empty for other reasons?

There are about 10,000 homes in Finsbury so the 300 are 3 per cent. As the Islington waiting list is 14,000 for council homes how many would attract the 100 per cent council tax premium if it were found they’d been empty for two years or longer?

LEO CHAPMAN
Dufferin Street EC1