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 .

[formerbabe]

I jest...there are some lovely houses in catford and some lovely people. Just a shame there are a lot of scumbags who bring it down.

[Mintyy]

Tilly - the one about the swimming pool??

[motherinferior]

Er. No. You said my area was a shithole. It isn't. And I am not a scumbag either.

[Ephiny]

Apparently Woolwich is getting a posh new housing development next to the Crossrail station. Personally I think a bit of gentrification can only be an improvement. It can hardly make it any worse.

[NoArmaniNoPunani]

Why won't you tell us where you live?

[LynetteScavo]

I have nothing in common with any of my neighbours!

Couldn't care less, as my house is conveniently located for me.

You are over thinking, Mintyy.

If I were you, I would sell at a profit, buy somewhre crap, where I felt suited me, and enjoy the proffit.

[thecatfromjapan]

Mintyy, I hope you read the rest of my posts. I really do get what you're saying. And I really understand why it can be horrible. You're not the only one to feel this. I think RutaSkadi has put it well.

In a way, it's an old, urban story: an are is a bit down-at-heel and attracts a vibrant, but not terribly monied population: gentrification begins, the vibrancy that made the area attractive for those who were already living there declines.

The difference now is that it can happen so quickly, and so extremely.

I didn't mean to dismiss what you were saying. just to tease a little bit. Sorry if it has made you feel go at.

[YoniGetAnOohWithTyphoo]

YABU. You are jumping to conclusions.

DH and I are in early thirties/late twenties and we have moved into an area where everyone seems to be over 45 and into horse riding, shooting and land rovers and the frosty reception we have received for the crime of being 'young' (and a bit poor by comparison) is really quite hurtful.

We are respectful neighbours, we keep the house/garden neat and the noise down. But our face doesn't fit, so that's the end of it for some.

The few who have bothered to get to know us seem surprised to find they get on with us! So give this couple a chance - you can't assume they'll necessarily be massively disruptive, or that you'll have nothing in common, or that they'll be pretentious. They might just be an ordinary couple who have had to fork out stupid money because that's the name of the game in London these days for young people trying to get on the property ladder. Don't pre-judge.

[bigTillyMintspie]

MI most certainly is not a scumbag! And her home is most definitely not a shithole.

[scottishmummy]

I live somewhere poncy,can't move fir bugaboo and affluent types.i like it

[formerbabe]

I never called you a scumbag! I used to live there a long time ago...I hated it. There are lots of nice people there and some lovely, big houses. I am used to people saying its on the up, but I have not seen that, that's all I said. By the way, I am being fairly light hearted though that doesn't always come across written down. I think this thread is hilarious. Talk about middle class problems...an area become too gentrified!

[BranchingOut]

So it seems that the choices are:

Ultra poncey
Poncey
On its way to being poncey
Shithole

Take your pick!

[NorksAreMessy]

I am growing nostalgic for the one bed, damp, chilly, downstairs-but-our-bit-of-garden-was-through-someone-else's flat that I had 100000 years ago in South Norwood.

Actually, no I am not. It was horrible.
And I worked in Catfird Homebase.

[smudgedgraffiti]

I am often in Catford, best friend lives there and I work there, I actually find most people I meet there very friendly. Great theatre too.

Definitely move there OP you could probably afford a massive house if you move from somewhere poncey.

[formerbabe]

I will say the heroin addict I met in a multi storey carpark in Woolwich was very polite to me and did move aside so I could get down the stairs.

[TooOldForGlitter]

I offered a bastard houseswap but noooooo .

[motherinferior]

My road is a mix. It is a huge mix of social and private housing - and yes it has a hostel at one end of it; there is a conglomerate blend of ethnicities and socioeconomics. I like this very much. I feel at home in it, with my own ethnically blended family, in a way that I don't in genteel surburbia. It is London. I can imagine that it would be most disturbing to lose this.

[Golddigger]

I thought that you had horses? I must have got that wrong!?

[Talkinpeace]

Mintyy
I know from the views over London thread roughly where you live
and I understand your stress
BUT
areas change.

You can either surf it until you can move to somewhere totally different
(ie away from anywhere to do with work / schools etc etc)
or rent your house out to said gentrifiers
(with a view to selling to one of them later)

[MadBusLady]

I genuinely don't know how people can find the time to be interested in ing over other people's loft extentions.

[MacaYoniandCheese]

Does Catford still have that big paper-mâché (possibly evil?) black cat dangling over the street? I haven't been there since I was little but I always found that mesmerizing.

[MadBusLady]

Wait, prospective loft extensions.

I think the cat is plastic.

[Golddigger]

I dont understand your nothing on the market comment.

Especially if you dont have much of a clue where you are going to, and appear to have plenty of cash.

[smudgedgraffiti]

Yep cat is still there!

[motherinferior]

Very definitely. Though it's not, alas, decorated for Christmas. It's quite horrifying, isn't it. And I speak as a cat lover