to want to move house in London just because the area where I live has become extremely poncey?

[Mintyy]

Yes, yes, of course we have been unbelievably lucky that we chose to live somewhere that became gentrified and therefore have made a lot of money on our house.

However.

We now feel like we have less and less in common with the people who live here. We are 49 and 51 and have good but not outstanding incomes.

I have just discovered that my new neighbours (who paid an extraordinary amount for their extremely average terraced house) are newlyweds in their early 30s. They are going to be doing building works, so I am imagine an extension and a loft conversion.

We are going to have nothing whatsoever in common with them are we?

I sincerely yearn for more authentic London living. Either inner city or further out and less pretentious and overpriced than where we are now.

Such a pita to have to move though! And nothing on the market .

Cricklewood is doomed once people can't afford Brondesbury Park and West Hampstead. I reckon Estate Agents will rename it Brondestead or summat.

Greenford won't be safe either given the rapid price rises in Ealing. I vote for Ealingford.

upper dulwich

Where is Upper Dulwich? Is that Sydenham Hill .

Upper Dulwich? Ha ha ha ha ha ha

Reminds me of Only Fools and Horses...'Peckham Spring'

I lived in Crystal Palace about 15 years ago and I really liked it sold my flat for £60,000 profit yes I am a hypocrite

Jollysantasselectionbox. The Southfields/Wimbledon comment made me laugh. The little terraces in Southfields have bust the £1 million mark . It depends which bit of Wimbledon though. I am still inwardly chuckling at someone telling me they lived in "East Wimbledon". How I didn't manage to say "do you mean Earlsfield or Tooting?" I shall never know . And we all know that West Wimbledon is otherwise known as Raynes Park. Now that I live on the border of Wandy and Wimby I, of course, know all about this stuff. Zone fecking three - huh - it's all suburban .

In jest vipes, in jest, before you flame.

I see the thread has moved on, but Mintyy, I am not asking you to celebrate massive house price inflation, merely to recognise that you aren't really a major victim of it. It would also be nice if you could hold off from judging people on the basis of what they paid for their house (sigh.... I am not going to have anything in common with these people, am I? Etc).

Personally, I love my neighbourhood (has been mentioned on here several times, and not too far away from ED) - I've been here for ten years as a renter then a flatowner. I am no Clapham wannabe.

Ridiculous Estate Agent pretentions have been going on for yonks though. I lived in Brixton when Clapham was being yuppified, and I have never forgotten seeing a flat on my street (near Brixton Water Lane for those who know) being described as "East of Clapham Village".

But... but.. Mrs DeVere I wanted you to come to Perivale, Greenford and open a nice fish and chip shop so I don't have to put up with soggy fish n chips anymore.

I don't think Ealing will ever truly be gentrified. In spite of the stupid house prices near Ealing Broadway, the main part of Ealing is quite rough.

lookatmybutt there's a nice fish and chip shop on Pitshanger Lane.

Matsikula - but I am a victim of massive house price inflation if I can't afford to move up from a 3 bed terrace to a 4 bed semi (for eg.). Which is what you might expect to do after 10 years and a doubling of household income. The people who are moving in next door to me are 20 years younger and clearly hugely more wealthy than me. But I should feel sad for them? Sorry but that just doesn't compute.

I grew up in clapham. my mum bought her house as single mum and it is now worth over 10 times what she paid for it 20+ yrs ago. I can't see how we will ever be able to afford there.

but mintyy they probably have much less disposable income as you as their mortgages will be many multiples of yours.

I don't think they can have a lot less disposable income than us if they are going to convert it from a 3 bed to a 5 bed when they move in. How can that be?

I never said you should feel sad for them, just that you shouldn't have such contempt for them.

Anyway, as per my previous post, I'd question whether they really are hugely wealthier than you: they have bigger incomes, yes, but bigger mortgage payments, potentially student loans to repay, pensions that are likely to be less advantageous than yours, childcare costs that will be a whole quantum higher than you had to pay.

if you really need a 4 bed, why don't you just do a loft conversion like all these dreadful 30 somethings?

Nope, still think the real victims are the renters not the owners.

you could always move to devon and buy a mansion.

Can't see how they are going to convert a 3 bed to a 5 bed, are you sure that works? Anyway, even adding an extra £100k to the mortgage is a hell of a lot cheaper than buying a house with 5 beds, which would take you well over £1m plus the extra stamp duty.

I'm not really sure that my op demonstrated "contempt" for my new neighbours. It was more a general venting of frustration about what has happened to the area I live in and used to love.

20 years ago Southfields was as rough as a badgers arse.

This is going to happen all over London though surely.

The only thing that held SE back and made it even remotely affordable were the terrible transport links. It took some effort to get into London when a lot of folks just move to London and want an underground station.

I checked the price of my old flat on Zoopla last week - a one bedroom with tiny kitchen, leasehold - £225,000. I paid £35,000 for it in 1995. I remember the mortgage notes where it said there was a risk that the property would not retain its value. Mwahhahahah....!

But seriously it was a first step property that you would now need at least £25k put away to buy and a 60k salary?

What about Thornton Heath Mintyy? Too far out? I always liked Brockley when I lived in Sydenham Hill. What's that like these days?

any thoughts on Loughborough Junction???

Brockley is booming. Conservation area. Catchment area for vg girls' secondary. And the Overground has massively improved transport links.

The 5% deposit scheme has sent prices through the roof. I know someone who had a mortgage all set up. The govt brought forward the Right to Buy to make a splash at conference and within a fortnight she'd been priced out of Lewisham. Is now looking at Anerley and Penge.

As to what should be done? Rent controls, for a start. (We had them from WW1 till Major's govt, and they worked.) Improved security for tenants. More social housing. 'Affordable' is a joke in many areas of London. Otherwise we'll have the rich and the very poor and nothing in between.

Loughborough Junction is just about to have loads if investment. I reckon it's on the up - and is one of those areas that would benefit from a bit of a facelift. Definitely not posh yet, despite having a fabulous and deeply cool and stylish cinema club, Whirled Cinema.

We've had friends in Southfields for about 25 years - I don't think it's been as rough as a badger's arse in that time. 25 years ago, it was all chintz; now it's all been chucked out. Although I do know that in the mid 70s it was the labour government's intention to buy up the houses, raise it to the ground and build a massive estate like Roehampton.

Cricklewood is alright. I lived in 'West Hampstead' by address only. It was Killburn/Cricklewood. I paid GBP50/wk for a room so small all I could fit in it was a single bed. My clothes were kept on two shelves. I did nearly all my shopping in Cricklewood. It wasn't a bad area at all.

By living in that area I was able to save up quickly for a deposit for my flat in Shepherds Bush. The area I bought in has now been renamed Brook Green. Sorry, it will always be Shepherds Bush to me. Neighbours are all lovely people and very different to those living there 10 years ago. Sometime I wish I still lived there but alas I am stateside these days.

Where I moved to in the US had been a nasty town through to the early 90s. It was as rough as a dogs rear end. Now you can't buy a building for less than $1 million and one with parking costs $1.5 million. Taxes on those homes are $20k+ a year. Even parking costs $20! Places change. The town I live in now went through a serious decline in the 60's after the race riots. We are leaving because quite frankly I don't need to be worried about getting shot at when I come home from work.

I think the new 'urban blighted areas' of the 90's will be the suburbs pretty soon. The poverty I see in the burbs both here in the US and the UK is quite eye opening.