To think our towns and cities are just so run down lately, and our standard of living has decreased significantly?

The politicians have cocked it all up.

Immigration is a good thing that's turned into a bad thing with brainless policies and insane numbers for too long. The British people voted Brexit to control borders/reduce immigration and the powers that be do the opposite.

Added to the fact the bulk of migration these days seems to be low skilled young single men. And they'll never leave as opposed to.often seasonal workers from Europe..

@sharknado I was quoting the poster who copied part of your post - it just quotes the whole thing.

Our town Llandudno is in a county with a high number of retirees so our social care bill is very high. Our refuse collections are good, street bins patchy. We have a wonderful team of volunteers who meet weekly to clear away litter but it's a hard slog. Fast food and drink containers create so much litter. Our council tax up another 10% this year. Third year running, our services have decreased year on year.

There's no solution to social care in the home in this area.

@lavenderlou I don't think you meant to quote me.

Presumably the majority of posters on this site have children, you think they'd be concerned about the fact their kids will never have a home of their own without some big fat help with the deposit. Hell, it's getting so bad they'll ve lucky to even afford to rent.

And yet millions of people celebrated their house going up in value! And borrowed against that equity to buy another house to rent out. And these were not all immigrants...

People shouldn't be dropping litter out the car window or the pavement. It's not that hard to have some pride for our environment and take you rubbish home if you cant find an empty bin. That's nothing to do with rent increases, council budgets etc.

If a person can't even think its wrong to drop rubbish then there is no helping many people in this country. Even streets being clean and free of rubbish helps alot. We have a few shops boarded up in my high street but since it's still clean it's not that depressing.

So what immigration would you like to stop? The vast, vast majority of immigration to the UK is fully legal and government approved - shortage workers, students. They all need to live somewhere.

They make up a large number of people (who are both migrants and native born people) who are housed by councils using private lets. This is extremely expensive to the taxpayer and the bill is only increasing as the numbers increase. Meanwhile, working people can no longer afford the basics. Do you think this is OK, or at all sustainable? I personally don't.

Are are very shit at housing bungalows these days or nice not for the mega rich apartments.

Flats are thrown up with no outside space for drying clothes and tiny two seat balconies. It we had decent ones with roof terraces and outside space that wasn’t just spinny washing lines some people might like flats more. Also storage.

I agree with the OP, I used to love a trip into town, I live in a medium sized city which formerly had really good shopping and looked attractive. These days it is just chicken shops, burger shops, charity shops, vape shops, and pound shops. Beggars and homeless people everywhere, and I too am very conscious of the security guards, they even have them at Poundstretcher but I guess people are desperate enough to knick from there. Like everywhere else Wilko and Debenhams are long gone. The bid Argos is boarded up, Currys likewise, we still have a big John Lewis, an M and S, a large Boots but like many people I can't often afford to shop there. I appreciate that the way we shop has changed, the internet has changed that for good and we need to re think the way we use city centres, However, it is the grime, the feeling of apathy, cut with an undercurrent of threat that makes me dislike being in the city these days. As for where I live, it is so dirty and neglected that going out makes me more depressed than staying in. I am typing this looking out of my window at a massive fly tip, It will get cleared and a few days later another one will replace it. Nobody puts their bins away, weeds are taking over the pavements, there is litter blowing around and if you venture out onto the main shopping area you can see open drug dealing and once the weather warms up the drinkers will take over the local park. Yet we pay one of the highest council taxes in the country! I never invite people to my home, it is too embarrassing, it will never change other than get worse.

I am no fan of reform but I am anti-immigration at this pont. You might be shocked to learn they're not mutually exclusive. Perhaps I just want my children to have a chance at being able to live at least a basic life in exchange for full time work. One would have thought that wasn't a big ask but it seems everyone thinks it is.

Why are migrants to blame for high property prices? Please link to relevant data / stats when you reply…

Completely agree

Presumably the majority of posters on this site have children, you think they'd be concerned about the fact their kids will never have a home of their own without some big fat help with the deposit. Hell, it's getting so bad they'll ve lucky to even afford to rent.

I read Bill Brysin's travel book on the UK which was early 90s..he bemoaned the deterioration of town centres then, houses less well kept, litter everywhere, public services decimated and decried 14 years of the Tory rule (at the time of the book).

He did a follow up about 10 years ago and was saying that it was great to see the rejuvenation in many cities since then (the centres of the big cities anyway like Manchester). However he could see things slipping back to how they were as this was during austerity.. we've had another lost decade since.

Hello Nigel!

"The UK is in the process of a major demographic shift as its population ages. Thirty years ago, only 1.6% of the population was aged 85 years and over, but by 2020 this had risen to 2.5%, equivalent to 1.7 million people. This trend is predicted to continue with the Office for National Statistics forecasting that by 2045, 4.3% of the population will be aged 85 years and over. This is equivalent to an almost doubling of the number of elderly people over the next two decades, driven both by increases in life expectancy and the ageing of baby boomers born in the 1960s."

@Veronay I'm not the thick one...

Personally I love going to work and paying taxes so that people who don't speak a word of English/ have an active hatred of British culture can be ushered into private lets at my expense. So rewarding. I don't even care that I can barely afford the very basics because it's all so worth it.

Cost of Living Crisis means that more people have turned to shoplifting.

Streets are full of crap because Councils are more interested in spending the Council Tax on increasing fat cat salaries. My Council has 30+ earning more than 100K pa. and very dirty streets.

Disrespect. People are disillusioned. The young have been screwed over into a lifetime of debt and poverty, the government has overspent; Thames Water increased their bills by £200 despite millions and millions of pounds made and shared in profits to shareholders last year; Tesco clubcard prices, ie This pack of ham cost £2.99 with a Tesco Clubcard, without one it costs £35.49; Noise pollution - a bus full of 20 people, 6 on phone calls shouting over each other, 2 watching football matches on their phones with their speakers on; someone playing misogynistic rap loudly 'bitch suck my dick', a crying baby as his mother is too busy with her phone. People being rude & obnoxious and then stating they have a ADHD, PTSD or just BS as an excuse; Nepo Babies living their best lives; My BBC TV Licence being spent on Huw Edward's dirty pics of young boys wanking; the list goes on and on...

Yeh dog poo here and litter. Granted the high st nearby is ok but this stuff is so depressing.

@TizerorFizz we don't have enough of the right housing for the older population or the transport systems though?

What we need is people to take far more responsibility for themselves.

But socioeconomic factors play into this.

That’s difficult of course because we live much longer than in the good old 1960s and are used to having what we want when we want it.

And unfortunately healthy life expectancy hasn't increased in years.

Since Brexit there is a lot less cash flowing into the country, less structural funding, regional funding, social cohesion funding, research funding etc…

I travel a lot in Europe and the contrast is getting starker and starker. Most towns and cities on the continent have lovely town centres, unblemished pavements and roads, beautiful and preserved architecture, power washing of facades… or to mention the bustling town centres with quality food shops and so on. The UK would need massive investment to begin to catch up.

I’m sorry to say that where I live now, there is litter everywhere and it wasn’t like this a decade ago.

Agreed and it’s thoroughly depressing. Dog mess is absolutely everywhere along with litter. Why can’t people clean up after themselves and have respect for their surroundings? The roads are in a shocking state, pot holes, rough and uneven, no line markings. You know it’s bad when there are pot holes on motorways!

Modern highway men posing as car parking companies, everywhere you turn, you risk a fine form conmen. No one is accountable for anything.

Of course it does. The population pyramid increases at the top due to people living longer, but keeps filling at the lower ages due to births/immigration.

Seriously...