I'm curious: what is considered "London" in this context? Wikipedia breaks down the demographics into Inner, Outer and Greater London. In each case the population has been growing rapidly, so who exactly is moving in and who is moving away?
'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
41–50 of 117 posts
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#42It'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…
What? London is full of new housing under construction. Many of the flats will be tiny as well. The problem (for those trying to live in the city) is that the houses will be hugely expensive.
For London in particular, the problem is that there are too many people who want to own a house there. That's why the prices are high. You can't call the place underdeveloped, it's not a lack of supply due to regulations.
If you want the prices to be lower, you need to reduce the demand.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#43I 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…
I agree with the idea of the 'urban cycle'. New, young professionals are happy to share a small bedsit in a bad area if it means a high salary, but at some point in life you have to rebalance your quality of living.
That's a problem I have with London- the constant churn. Everyone is transient. Friends you make are leaving in a year or two, maybe to go abroad or to buy a house in the suburbs. Many, many of the people living here do not consider it a 'home' but a stepping stone towards their goals, and I think this contributes to a lack of community spirit and feeling of belonging. I never felt like a 'Londoner' because there never seemed to be such a thing. On the other hand, this vast diversity and anonymity is of course one of London's great strengths.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#44Earlier quoted context omitted.
>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…
" (which they often leave empty) " [Citation Required] Genuinely curious.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#45Earlier quoted context omitted.
The cost of living in London is insane and it is a really interesting thought experiment. A lot of my friends are moving out of the city and I can't see myself staying here more than another year or two. But for some context, West Hampstead is a fairly nice suburb on three different train and tube lines. The rent for a one-bed flat is high as they are bid up by couples who are both earning. You are at a big disadvant…
How can rail transport be that expensive? (I'm genuinely asking)
Because, even at that price, the trains are still standing-room only on peak.
From a quick calculation my £4000 season ticket works out about £0.25/mile.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#46It'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…
> It's maddening that property owners can vote against new construction, when they have a deep conflict of interest. > landed incumbents voting to screw over the young That pesky "democracy" and "giving everybody a voice" getting in the way of what I want right now . (oh, and a small nitpick: Homeowners don't have conflict of interest, they simply have a different interest which may conflict with yours)
That pesky "democracy" and "giving everybody a voice"
Can people from outside of London who want to live there vote on those issues?
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#47I'm 32 and I recently moved out of London when my wife and I had our first child. Although London has the best of everything, if you can't afford the best, you often get the worst. At least where we are now (Southend on Sea, in the Thames estuary) the public services are excellent, it's safe and there's a strong community.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#48London is silly. I'm a contractor on a good rate and I can't afford to live where I want around Hackney. A 3 bed is ~600k, a 2 bed ~500k.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#49I have sort of a different experience. I just moved to London, from Dublin, a few months ago. I make a good, but not outrageous, salary: pretty close to a reported average for software developers in London.
I live in a somewhat rundown area, just outside zone 1. The rent is expensive, but not unmanageable. I have flatmates; the area feels safe; its close enough to bus and tube lines that getting around is simple. I live fairly frugally otherwise. I don't at all feel like I can't afford to live in the city, and I can't imagine having the access to the range and depth of culture and social events anywhere else.
Maybe it's that I don't have any interest in buying a home, but I feel like so much of this doesn't apply to me. Maybe it's also that I moved here from Dublin, another very expensive city, that I don't feel like it's so bad.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#50It'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…
What? London is full of new housing under construction. Many of the flats will be tiny as well. The problem (for those trying to live in the city) is that the houses will be hugely expensive. For London in particular, the problem is that there are too many people who want to own a house there. That's why the prices are high. You can't call the place underdeveloped, it's not a lack of supply due to regulations. If you…
As I understand it, the problem is that new construction is outstripped by increasing demand. Hence the increasing prices. I read an article in The Economist's recent suburbs/cities issue where they said a lot of the problem lies in how people are prevented from developing the green belt.