De-gentrification is a significant red flag, warning investors it's time to sell-up and move on to more lucrative neighbourhoods, writes Tony Booth.

Those who know what symptoms to look for can act quickly, beat the rush and stay ahead in the property jungle.

When she first coined the term gentrification almost half a century ago, Ruth Glass was describing the turnaround of Islington in North London, which had seen the rapid arrival of middle-class wannabees.

Islington had previously been a no-go area, a ghetto of boarded-up shops and unkempt multi-rented properties where legitimate work was scarce and crime was common.

Then came the gentry, whose post-war modernism and desire of a chic lifestyle sowed the seeds of influential affluence in a dying neighbourhood.