Christmas lights twinkle gaily in the shop windows that stretch from Harrods to Knightsbridge station, reflecting in the facades of the outsized apartments that sit across the street. The presence of wealth is overpowering; the scene a reminder that certain areas of London have cruised though the financial crisis without experiencing the ill effects being wrought on the rest of the country. But the government's clampdown on property tax avoidance is starting to gather steam in these mansion-flanked streets. In the central London boroughs of Kensington and Chelsea and the City of Westminster, there are as many as ... (full story)