A sorry tale often told

Nine fraught days before my daughter, son-in-law and baby grandson were due to move house, they learned that the deal was off. As a result, two other families in their "chain", all due to move on the same day, were left high and dry.

Hard-earned money spent on surveys, solicitors' fees, arranging mortgages and all the other costs, which amount to a small fortune, went down the drain. The greedy London housing market is going mad and causing human devastation in its wake. It is threatening families, jobs and lives.

In this instance, the problem was an unscrupulous developer. Three buyers in the "chain" of which my daughter, Lucie Hass, and her husband, David, are the final link, had been trying to exchange contracts at agreed prices, back-to-back

He was busy. Or couldn't be reached on his mobile. His solicitor said he was out of town. Then, on 19 July, the deal seemed to be all systems go. Solicitors down the chain rang their clients to ensure all was well before the paperwork was completed. Then, my daughter's vendor went missing.

On 22 July, on the brink of exchange again, and with nine days left before "M" day, Lucie was coldly informed that the vendor, a property developer, who had agreed to sell to them for £349,950 in May, had been advised by an estate agent that the property's value had now risen by £25,000 (despite the fact that the mortgage valuers had set its worth at £2,500 less than the price they were paying).

The three-bedroom, mid-terrace Edwardian property in Finchley, north London, originally bought for £270,000 as a probate sale 12 months ago, is, according to another local agent, being remarketed by the same agent who almost sold it to them, at an astonishing £385,000.

It is, to be sure, quite a well-modernised house, although the developer didn't leave enough room for a standard size fridge in the kitchen and the downstairs loo he installed needs proper ventilation.

Two ancient cold-water tanks in the loft need removing and the handkerchief-sized garden is too small for a child's swing. There is no garage, nor is there any room to install off-street parking on the minute frontage. Indeed, the only parking space is in the busy little avenue in which it stands, and that is constantly used by commuters as a free car park to avoid the £2.40-a-day cost of the station car park.

However, my daughter and son-in-law, an intelligent, hardworking couple who have full-time jobs with the BBC, decided it was just what they needed because, despite its drawbacks, it has the advantage of being just around the corner from my home and within easy reach of my son-in-law's parents. When two people have to work to pay the mortgage, it helps to have willing helpers on hand. They could, perhaps, get more for their money if they moved further out, but commuter costs would be high, time with their son would be less, and it would also take them out of our emergency reach and cut off their baby-care safety net. There are always going to be times when they have to work late, the baby minder gets flu and one-year-old Sam needs collecting.

That's why it is so vital that Lucie and David, both raised in the north-west London area, currently live in this particular inner-London suburb. After all it is where their roots are based, and the baby has extended those roots and cemented our families. If the cost of living in inner-London becomes so prohibitive that they are forced to move out of reach, greedy developers may benefit. But it could cost many young couples like Lucie and David the peace of mind and safety net provided by family life.