Golden Spikes, London

Day 233 of 365. Today's shot was taken on the way to work this morning. These very ornate gold spikes are atop railings on a street in Westminster. Behind the railings is a whole terrace of flats all of which have boarded up windows and big locks on the doors. I'm sure this terrace is worth many millions yet the flats have been abandoned like this for years now.
It seems to be in some very central parts of London that owners would rather leave properties empty and/or rundown rather than do them up and rent them out. Apparently, it's do with the price of land/property - they don't have to do anything and they will still go up in value. I do think this is where the government need to step in and do something that would help the housing shortage for the average worker in London.