Lunchtime news May 9

Commenting in the Evening Standard, Shelter chief executive Adam Sampson warns that homes in London costing less than £100,000 could soon be a thing of the past.

An increasingly detached underclass are the real victims of our dysfunctional housing market argues the author Mark Braund in today’s Guardian.

Making affordable housing a central part of Gordon Brown’s new agenda offers Labour a great opportunity to reconnect with the rural vote writes Dr Stuart Burgess, in the letters section of the Guardian.

Why are parts of London the most expensive residential areas in the world? Because some of the money swishing round Russia, the Middle East and East Asia has to find a home somewhere, says the Independent.

Most papers cover the news that the Bank of England increased interest rates by 0.25 per cent to 5.5 per cent at noon today. The Times says the move may create more losers in the short term than winners – particularly homeowners with variable-rate mortgages.

In a thundering leader article on rates, the Independent says that ‘housing is a huge problem in much of the country, not just for those trying to buy their first home, but for families needing more room and those whose circumstances change.’

Writing in the Standard Nick Cohen investigates how people are forced to spend a huge percentage of their money on housing costs.

The Daily Mail’s campaign against Eastern European immigrants continues with a report that the number of visitors from Eastern Europe has risen by a quarter since Romania and Bulgaria joined the EU. The paper at least admits that the figures released by the Office for National Statistics quantify visitors from around the world who said their stay in Britain would be temporary.