to feel sorry for housebuyers in london central re prices

[isseywithcats]

i was watching homes under the hammer this morning and a studio flat in aldgate when done up was worth £380000 omg how do people in central london afford to buy houses or flats when what is basically a bedsit is worth that much money, i live in yorkshire and the prices round here are on average between £60000 to £100000

How do people where I live (West Country) afford to buy houses on minimum wage when all the rich people have come down here and bought up our houses for 2nd homes?

I don't feel sorry for anyone who's parents help them out and I don't feel sorry for anyone who's not a Londoner.
As a born and bred Londoner I'm sick of meeting people from out of town in media / fashion / music etc who moan about house prices and having to ponce off their parents. It's partly their fault that everywhere is gentrified and unobtainable for normal working class Londoners.

I am amazed at the areas now considered central London - bethnal green, hackney, shepherds bush and even more are places outside of London now considered London - ilford sidcup Bromley. These are kent and Essex. Groaning at the seams.

Employers will have to pay more? No they won't. They'll just import more cheap labour.

Ilford is not in Essex. We're in London, thank you very much!

When I was growing up zone 3 was considered 'outer' now commuting from zone 5 due to not being able to afford nearer the norm. How far out can this go? Many commute from much further, Northants and Notts to my work on daily basis. How does this work for shift workers? Yes you can commute for day shifts, how would you commute to work nights at UCH for instance? It is a v real problem, especially as those who can afford to buy in Central London can also afford to pay for healthcare/education so aren't affected by public sector staf relocating somewhere more affordable

I live about 10-15 minutes walk from Aldgate. A three bedroom flat like mine was sold for £630,000 in early 2013. A massive new development being built nearby is selling (off-plan) flats of a similar size (but without the garage and garden my flat has) for an asking price of £1.4 million. (One bedrooms in the same development about £730,000.)

Google "London Docks St George" if that sounds tempting.

I reckon the developers took the going rate for a local flat of a given size and simply doubled it for their brochure price. (Although as it'll be a year or three before flats are built and ready to move into, let's be charitable and say they've anticipated some future growth.)

If nobody could afford to pay those prices, then prices would come down.

Clearly someone can afford these prices. However it may be investor landlords rather than owner occupiers. Which means central london is full of renters rather than owner occupiers. I don't really see this as a big issue; other European city centres are full of renters. (Although I do think our laws around renting could do with some reforms to bring in long leases etc).

I too am shocked that anyone would take their parents final salary lump sums to get on the housing ladder. I would rather relocate than do that to my mum and dad

Ilford was Essex long before London grew to encompass it!

London prices impacts on surrounding areas as families are priced out.
we live in south Essex and recently moved to an average sized 3 bed semi in a reasonable area. We considered moving north to be close to families and could have got a large 4 bed semi in a smart part of town for the price we paid for this house. Unfortunately there wasn't any jobs to support a move so we're staying put.

HappyGirl as you will see if you read my post I didn't say I'd be living in central London, I said I currently live in Zone 2 and will be moving out to get a house.

It's not a question of taking my parents' pension, as I say they are investing it with us so we will be paying it back with interest.

The jobs DH and I do are not available elsewhere in the country so we are otherwise trapped renting.

London property prices have been fuelled by foreign investors who filled their boots when the pound was weak against other currencies. For a period, London property became 25% cheaper to foreign buyers in certain countries. Most paid in cash.

Catford, 300k?? A house there is 500k+ now.

But that's if you're on the tube - many of us aren't - and even though you could commute you are adding far more time on than should be

And - what if you are forced to take a job - else your benefits would be cut - but that would result in a 2 hour commute each way - and your dc is/are at school and thus you do not actually get to see them during the week at all - this is reality for people right now in London.

I get cross as talk about people being priced out their local area always focuses on the country side and never on people being priced out of towns and cities. Unless something is done to keep a significant amount of housing within the London area affordable then the NHS/teaching exodus is a real threat in 20 or so years

Night buses run a lot further out than day buses, at 4am you'll find them packed full with cleaners, hotel and hospital staff. Cheapest way to commute and the only thing running to get into central at that time.

Its not a great way to start the day, I know I couldnt do it.

Ilford is Essex as it does not have a London postcode

I'm surprised more people don't move away already - teachers, nurses, midwives, in fact anyone whose salary would only be reduced by London weighting would get more house for their wages in other parts of the UK. London is nice, but there are other great cities in the UK!

I'm trying to leave at the moment but the job market here is much more buoyant than everywhere else in the U.K. I can't find anything that matches my skills and experience and that pays a decent wage. Many Londoners would like to leave but it's not as easy as you may think.

I'm also appalled someone would take their parents Final salary lump sums to live in area they can't afford. This sense of entitlement is crazy.

The really unfortunate people in London are those who would never have any hope of buying a property, even if prices weren't so crazy. It's not a fun place to be a renter on minimum wage/ benefits, unless you've got a social housing tenancy.

For those of us who do own in London, the major, major upside is that further down the line, if we do move out , we are likely to have lots of equity from our London houses and can buy bigger properties in the provinces, with money to spare.

I think the attitude we have in this country that property ownership is a right is a bit silly. I also don't get the notion that people are hard-done-by if they're priced out of their birth towns by rich southern second-home owners. There's no right to live in any particular place. Sometimes you have to move if you can't afford to live where you want to live. I did - moved from a provincial town where I couldn't earn well enough to London, where I could.

The only people I know who live in central London are either stonkingly rich or have council flats/housing association flats they were housed in years and years ago.

Most Londoners dont live in Zone 1.

Its still eye wateringly expensive here, though. Even where I am (Zone 4, 2 miles away its not London) prices are prohbitive. The cheapest one bedroom flat is 250k. Minimum 650k for a 3 bed terrace in the cheaper parts of the area.

I DO feel sorry for the average Londoner trying to get on the property ladder. We have public sector workers and service industry folk here, too! Its not as easy as moving out of London and commuting in (expensive and draining for the average full time worker with a family).

I also dont understand what world people are livng in when they suggest 'just leave London!' as an alternative to people struggling to live in our capital city.

DH's industry doesnt exist outside London. I'm public sector, currently looking for a new job. There are 64 positions advertised on the jobs go public website in my specialism in London. There are THREE in the rest of the UK...