If I could I'd scream in the PM's face....

[mamafridi]

ARE YOU TRYING TO SEND ME OUT ONTO THE STREETS?!!!!

I have had ENOUGH!

I sold up and moved to the UK (London) to be near family. I am in my early forties and me, my husband and DD are stuck in a small flat paying an outrageously high rent while my husband commutes into central London (another horrific expense) to a job that barely pays the rent so all house bills, council tax, food, etc are deducted from our savings (precious money from the sale of our home). We have no chance of getting a big enough mortgage to help us buy a place big enough to live in and if I work full time too we would have to pay the stratospheric fees for nursery.

I can't believe that anyone in government, especially Cameron, Clegg, Osborne, can continue to make things so hard for so many struggling, hardworking, people like us and then on top of that say that it is actually helping Britain's economy and getting it out of the financial mess it's apparently in.

Are you suffering similar difficulties? What are they? Is there anything we can do to make life easier? Is there a solution or do we simply resign ourselves to life on the streets sometime in the near future.

Am I being unreasonable? Please tell me that I'm not...

Poorer people can live in London, but they can't expect to have the same kind of lifestyle they would if they lived somewhere cheaper.

We live in the South East, an hours commute from central London and the cost of living is definitely lower than London. You don't need to move 3 hours from your family.

I sense a 'I am entitled' tone to the OP. Her view that she comes from another country, chooses not to work full time (or even at all - not sure whether she is working!) says her Mum refuses to move, demands that she lives in London and then moans that she cannot make it work is nonsense.

What on earth did she expect - to move to one of the most expensive cities in the world, not work, want to live near her Mum and it goes on and on...

Sorry but some of us have chosen to live near London because of the job opportunities, this means that elderly parents are often 100's of miles away. That is choice you make...

Maisijoe - how big is that chip there on your shoulder?

Your presumptions are so out that I won't even try to explain how wrong you are.

I have no chip - its yours I am commenting on - that you seem to think that what you want will come easily. You want to live in London the most expensive part of the country and then complain that you cannot afford it. Why are you any different from the rest of us who would love to live near parents but unfortunately cannot have it all.

Just because you didnt do your research well why is it the governments fault!

Yanbu, it's shit. I was born in outer London. My family are there.

We have moved out if London because we can't afford the rent but can't go to far as need my mum for childcare as fees are a lot of money.

Tories want London to themselves and want and will get the poor people out.

Rent capping is the only answer but it will never happen as the landlords are the mp's so there not going to make that a prority. ( makes of then have at least 2 homes as it is) is pure greed.

Unfortunatly this county is returning to Victoria times and not in a good wa

London needs people like me and my husband

Why?

Is it a big company your DH works for? Does it have any other branches in another part of the country? How many DC have you? Sorry if this has already been clarified. Could your DM look after them if you find a job? Could you work from home? I don't think it's the government's fault but they should bring in rent caps and build cheaper housing.

Looks like you don't do your homework very well. You have chosen to live in London. Enlighten me as to why London needs you and your husband???

you are being totally unreasonable.
what gives you the right to live in london? if you can't afford it, move elsewhere. move your mum and your husband's job also.
come north. its beautiful, and its cheaper.
but leave the 'entitled' attitude and the nasty chip on your shoulder in the south where it belongs.
and do not scream in the face of the prime minister or anyone else - it's rude.

A lot of people have to move out of London because they can't afford to buy or rent. I don't think Cameron fixes house prices or rents.

Why are people being so hostile to the op?

It seems to outrage some if anyone has the temerity to express a wish to live in central London and a wish that it wasn't so expensive.

As others have said, it shouldn't be the sole prerogative of the wealthy to live in the capital city.

Peace - thanks! I thought it was just me that felt her tone was 'entitled'. And the north is lovely. Come retirement its where I am heading. People from the North always seem to love being there!

There is nothing wrong with wishing things, but to blame the government for it when she has CHOSEN to move their knowing it would be hard is the entitled bit.

Millions of people are struggling due to things out of their control, the OP is lucky that she had more control over things but then still looks for someone else to blame.

Frillyflower thank you...I was beginning to think that I was suffering from a persecution complex.

What is interesting is that none of the those who are so freely criticising have answered my questions.

Peaceandlove... I don't understand why it is "rude" to write metaphorically that I want to scream at th PM? (although if I could I probably would).

There's a lot of talk here about choice, but my choice to live near London to be near my family has been taken away. And I do believe that the government have had some say in that choice having been taken away.

mamafridi I do feel for you. We will be doing the same thing one we sell our house.
Getting a firm job offer from abroad is quite difficult to do.
My mother is now a widow in her 70's no other family left, she sister and mine also live abroad, so it's my turn to do the right thing. We won't be anywhere near London though. Maybe having your Dh look for work and the whole family (mum included) moving to one house in another area would be something to look into.
We have a few leads on work and lots of friends who will point us in the right direction, but thats all they can do. So we are crossing our fingers on the work front, moving in with my Mother and taking whatever we can get job wise.
If you want to come and chat about your experience with others who have done the same or are in the planning stages, come and join us over at www.britishexpats.com in the moving back to UK section.

I'll try to answer your questions, from my pov :)

why is it that someone living in a property worth thousands or millions more than the flat in the block I live in pay the same amount of council tax?

Does london not use the same banding system that the rest of the UK use?

Stamp duty is 1 percent if the property is 250K or under, but to find a flat with 2 bedrooms is very difficult in greater London but what could a person buy for that in another part of UK? Stamp duty rises to 3 percent if a property is over the 250K band which is what many two bed flats cost in outer london which makes it impossible to even think of affording a property at all.

What could a person buy elsewhere? Well my three bed house was £84k. But as i've said upthread, my sister rents in london for £800pm, which isnt that much really. And her gas/elec are lower than mine cause its a smaller property...

Commuters now are charged £10 a month more to be able to get to work, and that is where we live which is an hour's commute (over £2000 per annum) If we lived further out it would cost even more to get into London.

I would imagine so, but as I said earlier, if your DH is just in a minimum wage job, why does he have to work in London? Genuine question!

London is where my family live, I came to be closer to them after spending years far away from them so why would I want to move 3 hours out of London?

Because I assume you don't spend every waking minute visiting anyway, so would be no worse off to have to travel a little further to visit, especially if it improved your quality of life?

London needs people like me and my husband just as much as we need London for work, so why is it so damned difficult to live here?

it isnt, plenty of people do manage it, they just have to have realistic expectations. Not having each child in their own bedroom or commuting 10 mins further than they were, or not going on holiday every year.

mamafridi
I found you 34 flats under £250K just by one tube station so that sorted your stamp duty problem.

I notice you didn't answer any questions about could you / do you work part time. I used to work days and DH evenings at one point. You are living somewhere you can't afford and then saying its the Government's fault.

I accept that there is a problem with housing costs in London and if you had started a post saying Housing costs in London are getting ridiculous, how can anyone with a normal salary live there I would have agreed with you. If you had gone on to say that it is a bad thing if average salary and lower earners can't live in London, I would have agreed with you. And I am one of the ones who can afford to live there.

But London has been expensive for many years, this is not a new problem and yes your choice has been limited but that is true for so many people.

When you start making comments about living 3 hours outside of London, it does sound like you are being a tad overdramatic.

You have took a flaming here OP,one of those situations where you would be wise to look at the posts as just words on a screen.
As for Britains economy,it doesnt look like its going to get better any time soon,the Goverment had a bad end to the year according to this

By the way, sorry if I've missed it, but are you claiming your benefits?

Can I just add that a Zone 1-6 annual season ticket is only £152 per year more expensive than 1-5 so if you could save more than £152 p.a. on your rent by moving out a zone, it might be worth doing.

I disagree, your choice to live near your family because your DM refuses to move is not the fault of the government. If you are not working, if your DH is on minimum wage and you refuse to move and moan about the costs - well what on earth do you expect living in one of the most expensive cities in the world.

My DH and I could afford to live in London (two FT salaries) but with considerably less of a property than we have now...

YOU now need to make a choice (nothing to do with the gov!). Do you stay where you are and get a job yourself, get extra qualifications, move your Mum to come with you, ask your DH to look at gaining extra qualifications or do you stay as you are and STOP moaning.......

TBH - I dont think this poster is listening. She wants to blame others for her situation. She wants everything, to stay where she is, her Mum to stay where she is, to not work FT, to not encourage her DH to gain more qualifications but to still be able to afford what others can only dream about....

If her situation is so bad and so unaffordable - why did she move in the first place. Oh yes - I have forgotton. Her DM refuses to move.....

to be fair OP everyone (well most of us) are suffering a bit financially as a recession is occurring - not sure if you voted in the last election but if not maybe you should - then you might have had a different MP

You did make a choice to move - your husband chose a MW job - you, I am guessing, chose not to work ...it's not (and I say this as a wishy washy liberal) ALL the Gov's fault

Hang on - you wont travel 45mins to visit family, but your DH has an hours commute (two hours there and back, or an hour in total?) every day

Your DH is a doormat!