A fuller picture is now emerging of the chaos caused by Gordon Brown's appalling mismanagement of the now-you-see-Sipp, now-you-don't residential property tax break screw-up. And it's not a pretty sight. Apparently, as many as 5,000 London apartments have been bought off-plan, with the intention of sticking them in a self-invested personal pension after April 6. Christine Seib, of the Times talks to Dresdner Kleinwort Wasserstein property analyst Alastair Stewart:

"They're not going to complete," he said. "I've heard from various places today that people are in an absolute panic about it."

To add insult to injury, the scramble for pension properties has over-heated the new-build market, which no doubt goes some way to explain this. Where's all this going?