The hacienda-style mansions dotting Mirpur mask the hard work and long hours spent in earning the pounds- whether as taxi drivers, factory workers or shop owners. Most of them lie empty, their owners living in overcrowded terraces in England. It has now become a cliché among some critical Mirpuris that the deserted mansions are used only by donkeys seeking shade from the midday heat!
Why do people waste huge amounts on properties they hardly live in? I suspect there are a number of reasons, including competition (my mansion is bigger than yours), lingering belief in the myth of return (even though we have now been in the UK for 50 years and our children and their children were born here) and, probably for some people, investing in a mansion is a convenient tax management/ evasion/ avoidance strategy.
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