'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

Post by yeureka » Tue, Feb 24, 2015, 10:54 AM UTC

toong wrote: post #17

yeureka wrote: post #7

This is depressingly true. I just exchanged contracts on a 2 bed flat in zone 4 that will leave me and my gf with a 300k debt. If it wasn't for her stable job in town I would think about going somewhere else. And we know that we will probably never be able to upgrade to a bigger place if prices keep rising at this rate since our income will not increase at the same speed. I wonder if London will become a boring rich…

Sorry, I don't know London, but I'm trying to understand your situation. You have a mortgage for around 1.5k for the next 25 years, shared between you and your gf for a flat with a spare bedroom close to the centre of London ? Sounds rather affordable, what am I missing ?

Post by 3princip » Tue, Feb 24, 2015, 10:55 AM UTC

chrisseaton wrote: post #25

3princip wrote: post #15

I spent my childhood in London, moving overseas after graduation - not financially motivated. With two kids now I often entertain ideas of moving back, primarily because it really is an amazing city and because of the opportunities my children would have. Unfortunately, even with the handsome salaries senior devs earn I cannot see how I could possibly pay rent and support children. So I often wonder where all this mo…

"even with the handsome salaries senior devs earn" People working at Google etc think they're paid handsomely, but in reality in London they are paid a fraction compared to what you can get in the financial sector. This article and the comments here talk about software developers and graphic designers, and the reality is there's a whole community above you earning much more. That's who's able to buy the houses.

Post by chrisseaton » Tue, Feb 24, 2015, 10:57 AM UTC

3princip wrote: post #33

chrisseaton wrote: post #25

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"even with the handsome salaries senior devs earn" People working at Google etc think they're paid handsomely, but in reality in London they are paid a fraction compared to what you can get in the financial sector. This article and the comments here talk about software developers and graphic designers, and the reality is there's a whole community above you earning much more. That's who's able to buy the houses.

That's what I suspect, but it's crazy. The average salary in London is £27k, a senior dev will earn 3x that (I'm guessing). And that's still barely enough to live comfortably. I guess that's the point of the campaign in the linked article, but I can't see how that will change, unless the financial bubble bursts.

Post by jstanley » Tue, Feb 24, 2015, 10:59 AM UTC

crdoconnor wrote: post #27

peteretep wrote: post #20

I also left London recently, although I moved due to the weather. For every 29-year-old graphic designer who moves to Cambridge to buy a family home, there's a 22-year-old who's just started their career who's willing to live in a bedsit in Wood Green (as, coincidentally, I did at 17, trying to break in to the big city). You're meant to get older, and move out of the city. Circle of (urban) life. Give it 50 years, an…

>That you see yourself as being one of the "original" residents doesn't give you some inherent right to below-market-prices in property. It speaks volumes that you implicitly put the rights of Russian oligarchs and Arab oil barons to buy property (which they often leave empty) above those of the working and middle classes of London. I'll come back to London when they start taxing the wealthy again. Until then I'll wa…

Post by mseebach » Tue, Feb 24, 2015, 11:01 AM UTC

CalRobert wrote: post #8

It's maddening that property owners can vote against new construction, when they have a deep conflict of interest. The community may require housing, but the homeowner has an interest in seeing housing prices go up forever. It's similar to this ridiculous notion that expensive housing is a good thing. We give absurd tax breaks to homeowners (why can't I deduct the lost interest on my rent?), and people lament falling…