Gentrification is always assumed to be a remorseless process: once an urban area is on the improvement track it will rarely stand still and never slip off. During a slump, prices in such a location may be depressed, but they invariably bounce back and embark once more on their ascent.

However, there are indications that the-only-way-is-up assumption is being tested in London — and could also soon be called into question in other cities. There has been a change of mindset among buyers, who are preferring neighbourhoods that have already arrived to those with potential.

The difficulty in obtaining a mortgage — even if you have a deposit and equity — seems to be breeding a new ruthlessness. Those buyers may be looking for a home in which they can remain for a decade — frequent relocation being, for the moment at least, out of fashion — but they are not inclined to wait that long for an area to be transformed.

As a result of these requirements, a London suburb that can claim little more than proximity to a smarter neighbour may now be lagging behind in the recovery. Buyers will no longer accept what they perceive to be second-best, unless it has decent schools and good looks. This flight to quality is affecting even places such as Stoke Newington in North London, which has such gentrification essentials as rows of coffee shops and a farmer’s market. Ed Balls, Secretary of State for Children, and his wife, Yvette Cooper, Chief Secretary to the Treasury, reputedly moved to this area for the schools. Fans of “Stokey” — see, it even has an affectionate nickname — would shudder to see it rank below Islington in the recovery league. Nevertheless, already-arrived Islington is edging ahead, further consolidating its reputation.

Meanwhile, the London market’s performance is also being influenced by another kind of buyer, who also wants an address that is already established as hip and is equally impatient — but about commuting time.

Like Mayor Boris — an Islington resident — more Londoners are getting on their bikes. But many do not care for too much exertion or traffic fumes. Thus they are buying in central postcodes, such as Spitalfields, cool and minutes by two wheels from the City. First-time buyers in good jobs, but also funded by parents, are driving prices in this historic place with its bars and Georgian houses up the league.

Does the current buyer bias for success stories, rather than tomorrow’s possible stars mean that there is little point trying to spot places with the capacity to go all the way? The shortage of homes would suggest otherwise. In light of this, we highlight such secondary, but not second-rate, suburbs as Montpelier in Bristol, Dorridge, close to affluent Solihull, and North Kensington, adjacent to Notting Hill. North Kensington is David Cameron’s neighbourhood, which, given his personal means, speaks volumes about the appeal of somewhere that has not yet arrived.

MPs enter the rental market

The Kelly report has ordained that MPs will henceforth be obliged to rent rather than acquire second homes with taxpayer-subsidised mortgages. They may not see this as good news, but, for millions of other tenants, it is a welcome development. MPs will turn into a vocal force, encouraging landlords to raise their standards.

In the buy-to-let boom, thousands of people over-extended themselves to become landlords, with little idea of the responsibilities and exaggerated expectations of rental returns. As a result of this failure to do their sums, many have been repossessed. Their experience should be a cautionary tale for those now venturing into buy-to-let that the landlord game is a business that requires lots of financial, legal and practical know-how. You do not need to know something about boilers, but it certainly helps.

Build a castle on the sand

The shimmering stretch of sand pictured is Sandbanks, the Dorset playground where millionaires, especially Russian ones, like nothing better than to pull down beachfront bungalows and build mansions with £100,000 kitchens and suchlike. Of late there has not been as much opportunity as there was before for this sport, but now Savills is handling the sale of an 0.84-acre waterfront plot. The guide price is £7.5 million but, because there is planning permission for two “substantial detached dwellings”, the new owner ought to be able to sell off one to help to meet the bill for that kitchen and everything else.