Density in this country, even in the SE (where I also live), is not that high. The "near-constant development" is not a picture I recognise - in fact, we build precious few new homes each year, far too few, and the number is going down. In 2020 we only built 123k homes?

I recognise the issue with congestion, although I would contend that's a national issue. Oxford is probably as bad/worse as anywhere else. The cost of housing is a huge issue, but that's mostly supply/demand because we're not building anything like enough homes.

"Not xenophobic in the slightest" doesn't match my experience. Most English people don't even like Scots/Welsh/Irish, you don't have to go far overseas to find people we have a nationally visceral reaction to. I'm not sure anyone objective could see our English media / watch our sports / look at the workforce statistics / look at political leaflets in this country and judge us "not xenophobic". London is literally the only place I would consider that not being a huge issue.