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'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

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Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#111

Post by throwaway2547 »

suttree wrote: post #28
SandB0x wrote: post #16

Earlier 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…

I commuted between London and Berlin for a decent amount of time, and I certainly remember having more money then compared to now when I live in London fulltime.

How did you manage this? Was this daily? If not, where were you sleeping when you were in London? Where were you flying to, and how were you getting into central London? I'm really interested in commuting to London from other countries but it seems impractical and expensive. There seem to be a lot of people talking about how in theory it's cheaper, but no one is doing it other than weekly commutes, which requires a place to stay in the first place.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#112

Post by pjc50 »

srgvd wrote: post #57

Single earner with 2 kids living in London on top-1 percentile income here. 60% of that monthly income is going towards rent, taxes and utilities for a terrace in Zone 4, plus nursery charges for our toddler. My wife can't find a job here, as she's an ex-journalist, and not a native speaker. No tax allowances (due to £100k+/y income) and no recurse to public funds (I'm on Visa, and not an EU citizen) doesn't help eit…

The 200k/year requirement feeds into the incomes discussion in other ways. Take today's scandal of Malcolm Rifkind, complaining that £67k is "not enough to live on".

Rifkind earns £67,000 as an MP, a further £14,876 as chair of the ISC and received £270,868 in directorships and consultancies between January 2014 and January 2015. (Guardian)

Rifkind's party instituted the "bedroom tax", taking ~£25/week off many people who were living on benefits and who have now been pushed below the breadline, resulting in a number of suicides and deaths of disabled people due to malnutrition.

One one level, MPs are perhaps not paid enough to not need outside payment. On another, we're constantly told that "austerity" is so necessary that we must withdraw the tiny amount of money that is keeping many people alive.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#113

Post by endeavour »

rjaco31 wrote: post #19
SandB0x wrote: post #16

Earlier 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 the market will bear it. People have jobs in London, but can't afford to live there. Driving usually isn't an option either because parking prices and London traffic are prohibitive. Ergo the train companies can charge basically whatever they like and people have to put up with it.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#114

Post by grey-area »

3princip wrote: post #94
grey-area wrote: post #87

Earlier quoted context omitted.

and that's still barely enough to live comfortably. Many people live comfortably in London for far less than 90k gbp, it all depends on your expectations and requirements.

Even with rent prices? If I was single it wouldn't matter, I could live in a shoe-box, but a family needs a little extra room. And we're a very frugal family. It's interesting that growing up in London my single-parent mother on an income between 40-50k managed to buy a house and raise two kids. We lived comfortably. That house is now worth 6x more than the price she payed. Her salary today (she's retired) would be a…

Given wage inflation over 40 years her salary would not be the same. Given asset inflation I'd expect the house to go up say 4x. Prices in London have been frothy recently, but as someone in a similar situation it is possible to buy in a nice area if you compromise on some things first time - either garden house/flat, or area. If you are in the top 10-20% (as many posting here are) there are lots of options in London for a good quality of life. Personally I would rent right now, save and await a correction.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#115

Post by CalRobert »

crdoconnor wrote: post #106
mseebach wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> 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" Apparently some people are a fan of the type of democracy that limits voting rights to property owners. Would you like to return to a time when blacks and women couldn't vote either?

Whoa, whoa - that's not quite what they were saying, I think - and they were opposing me! I was referring to areas which are composed primarily of homeowners voting in ways that prevent other people from living there. There's also the fact that homeowners are more likely to be able to vote due to the greater likelihood of being citizens.

Something like 40% of London residents are foreign-born. Interestingly, I'm a foreigner in Dublin, but I'm allowed to vote in local elections after living here for a year.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#116

Post by jon-wood »

willyt wrote: post #95
jon-wood wrote: post #51

Earlier quoted context omitted.

You'd be even more incredulous if you had to ride on a London bound commuter train every morning. If you're lucky you'll get to stand in a space large enough that you don't have to stick your head in someone's armpit. If you're incredibly lucky, or get on at one of the first stops on the line, you might even get a seat.

London Underground standard 'crush loads' are 4 people per square meter of floor space for the entire floor area of the train carriage.

I'm really not sure that's a fact I wanted to know.

Re: 'Nobody My Age Can Afford to Stay Here Forever'

#117

Post by datamatt »

chrisseaton wrote: post #108
zo1 wrote: post #93

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Oxford Knight looks like some sort of recruitment agency. Any link to the actual institution offering that?

No, and to be fair it is the top salary I could find publicly. But I have a couple of friends who are compensated not far off that. Another twist - they're both humanities students, that HN loves to claim will never get a job with their classics and literature.

What do they do?
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