'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
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Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#2Reminds me of this article talking about living in Barcelona and commuting to London being cheaper than living in London:
https://uk.finance.yahoo.com/news/cheaper-to-live-in-barcelo...
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#3My former coworker from across the pond talks about his fellow college grads who either had the foresight or luck to buy flats in London after graduating in the late 90's. At the time, I think they were in the $200k range. I shudder to think of the valuations now.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#4Messages are listed here: http://www.londonischanging.org/review_billboards
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#5I can empathise with these messages. We left London after two years when I moved to start a PhD. I was sad to leave the city but life is so much easier away from London. We could afford to buy a house when I was studying, and once I graduated we could afford for me to earn very little while I started a business. I love the energy of London but, now we have 2 kids, I can't imagine we could ever afford to move back.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#6There are plenty of places to relocate.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#7This 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 people playground.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#8It'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 house prices, as though homelessness were desirable.
Couple all that with building codes that make it illegal to build modest (small with no parking) housing, and you have a situation where it's impossible for most people to live in a city.
The above issues don't apply everywhere. London, thankfully, isn't dumb enough to go for parking minimums, and doesn't offer a tax deduction on mortgage interest. The general forces at play (landed incumbents voting to screw over the young) are much the same, though.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#9This 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…
On the other hand you can sell your flat for a higher price in the future.
Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'
#10There are plenty of places to relocate.
"Are there no prisons?"
"Plenty of prisons..."
"And the Union workhouses." demanded Scrooge. "Are they still in operation?"
"Both very busy, sir..."
"Those who are badly off must go there."
"Many can't go there; and many would rather die."
"If they would rather die," said Scrooge, "they had better do it, and decrease the surplus population."
This isn't JUST about privileged young would-be urbanites having to live a few stops further from Shoreditch. It's about having a city that isn't just a playground for the rich but that has a healthy mix of professions and lifestyles.