To wonder why people struggle to live in London.

[m1nniedriver]

Just honestly wondering what it is about London that makes people on, as I see it, huge salaries want to live in tiny flats just because it's london? The cost of living there seems riduculous. Some of the posts on here about the cost of housing just beggars belief! A tiny 1 bedroom flat for 300k?? If that's what you want then power to you but I do see posts with people say they are struggling and stressing every day to get by. Why would you not move to another part of the country that would enable a much better quality of life?

I'm not great at putting things across on posts so I hope this doesn't offend anyone its is meant as a genuine question, not having a go.

Actually I have a house and garden in zone 2 too and dh and I are public sector professionals, not city banker types. It doesn't have off street parking or a few other features mil considers essential for a happy life but i like it.

I don't get these threads.

"I don't understand why you want to live in x"
"Because of a, b, c. And I don't understand why you want to live in y"

Thank god people are different eh? Otherwise it would be even harder to find nice accommodation in london.

Not everyone is 'struggling' to live in london. Lots of people manage it quite comfortable.

Oh yes, parking. I don't go on threads scoffing at people who have cars when I don't need one because of where I live.

whois. What don't you understand about the thread? I wasn't slating London or asking why people live there as such. I was wondering why people on relatively decent incomes struggle day to day to pay rent, bills etc in the most expensive city in the country when they could live very comfortably elsewhere. It's hard to understand as someone who lives v. Far away from the capital and knows very little about the lifestyles of those that do.

I've found it really interesting and am glad it didn't turn into a bitchfest, interesting answers and good perspectives

HTH you understand 'threads like this'!

And No one suggested 'everyone' struggles to live in London . That would be riduculous wouldn't it.

PinguforPresident, me too. I shall never live there again, it was madness on my part to move, to encourage my mum to move and my brother too. There are few jobs here, they're not well-paid unless you're a real specialist (we're near Exeter, so think Met Office). Life is cheaper but otherwise.....

None of my friends live in London any more, so nowhere to stay with resulting cost of hotel/b&b on top of outrageous train fares. Means I can't even take dd for weekend or go by myself just to get my head in gear again and remember who I am.

London has my soul and my heart, and it won't let go.

I think that it's because people's ideas of what 'comfortably' means varies considerably. I grew up in a nice house with a garden in Yorkshire. But I'd far rather live in my London flat, with limited space and no garden, to a giant house in the countryside where it wouldn't be possible for me to go to take my DS to the zoo, museums, free arts events and my DH to the theatre, opera and galleries on a regular basis. Not everyone prioritises size/niceness of house or private outside space.

The other thing, as I said, is that in many professions the top level work is in London. This applies to law, banking, hedge funds, many civil service jobs, many arts jobs, journalism, advertising, PR and probably others. For some people, working at the top of their field is a priority in itself.

Mary the house prices in most areas in Scotland have continued to rise too. I bought a flat 10 years ago, Central in a big vibrant city there are a lot in the UK it is now valued about 4 times more than I bought it for. No where near what it would be in central London but neither is the cost of living. It's all relative I guess. Not every city has turned into the ghost towns described in some posts.

House prices have risen faster in London than in most/all areas of England. Regardless, the main reason for living in London would be for the jobs.

Yes in England perhaps but Aberdeen in Scotland is on a par with London as far as increases in property prices go. Living away from London does not mean heading cows out of your drive and running free around the rolling hills. Not what the post was about but a valid point I feel.

Thanks for all the replys.

I love London. It's my home and I'm always happy to get back to it. I cant imagine ever wanting to live anywhere else... and when I stand on Waterloo Bridge at night, looking North, I'm proud (and somewhat soppy) about the place. I love the diversity and the difference. I love the transport and the buzz and the amazing green spaces.

And I expect wherever people live, if they love it, they feel like this. There are so many vibrant and beautiful places in this country...

m1nniedriver I wasn't suggesting that people move to London because of the increase in property price rises. Many move there because there is much more opportunity for jobs. The high house prices are a negative but the fact that they probably will increase compensates for this to some extent. House prices may also have risen sharply in Aberdeen, but the job situation is no where near as good as London (certainly not in my field anyway) so that is irrelevant.

I live in London because that's where the good software development jobs are. I bought my tiny zone 2 one bedroom flat on a salary of 70k and for a while I felt like finances were tight. But I was overpaying on my full repayment mortgage, putting a big chunk of money in my company sponsored pension pot and having really nice exotic holidays every year. So there wasn't a lot of cash left at the end of each month but now thanks to career progression and getting married to another professional, I live quite comfortably here and really enjoy having everything at my doorstep.

Because London is brilliant. For those who love it (like me). Most of my extended family would hate to live in London but I still love it, despite raising a child in a flat with almost no garden.

DH and I both work in visual arts so the chances of us both being able to get a suitable job in the same town at the same time outside London is remote. And then if either of us wanted to change jobs or go for a more ambitious job we'd have to up sticks, pull the kids out of school etc. And the other one would find it hard to find anything, and believe me, the arts do not pay the kind of salary where a family can support a SAHP.

So, London it is. The galleries, artists, exhibitions, critics and international curators are here. We do both travel nationally to events and galleries outside London, of course there are brilliant visual arts and exhibitions Out There - but not in the intensity to support both our careers in one place.

Luckily we love it, and we are lucky enough to have bought (i.e get a mortgage on) our modest home in a scruffy, unfashionable corner of London before prices went super-silly. We have a small garden, an excellent park within one minute's walk, an excellent choice of schools for both primary and secondary, and very good transport.

Housing is extortionate, but there is no need to run a car in London as public transport is good and many people have everything within easy walking distance - swimming pool, supermarket etc, just because everything is so packed in. Shops are open til late every night, really late - so it is easy to grab shopping on the way home from work, or else get a delivery.

Kids in education get free bus travel. Supermarkets - the wide choice and competition means that prices are low. I always think how expensive my Mum's supermarket (Budgens) in a rural county is.

We make good use of London - we go to lots of events especially free events. And love living here.

So, the housing struggle has enough 'pay off'.

I don't feel my choices and preferences constitute a value judgement against anyone else's choices or decisions.

I love these threads where people sneer at Londoners. That's fine dahhhhling, but if I liquidate my propeties I could come and buy up the best house in your two bit town, demolish it, and rebuild a better one and still have cash left over. Oh and me and DH aren't silver spooned folk, cash earned, in public service, for the entirity of our careers.

But do I say that, no I don't, cause quite frankly, I don't want to live in Manchester, Newcastle, Liverpool, or anywhere else where you get tours of stuff that I have here permanently, I don't want to live somewhere where I can't buy all sorts of ingedients for cooking without travelling miles to specialist shops, where I can't go see good stand up at the drop of a hat, or pick up tickets for the "must have" gigs and go on the day because its round the corner, where life just feels "stale" and not as vibrant. The buzz of this city feeds me.

But do I start any threads with this? No? You know the reason you sneer, cause your jealous, thats why. You know your boring, and it hurts, so you make boring what you want

zzzzzzzzz

But do I start any threads with this? No? You know the reason you sneer, cause your jealous, thats why. You know your boring, and it hurts, so you make boring what you want

Seriously!?

I am not in the slightest bit jealous.

Your ranty post says more about you than any one else quite frankly

It is supposed to be a bit tongue in cheek you realise?

Haven't read the whole thread. DH works for a bank which only has branches in London and he has a good position there with good prospects for advancement which would be hard to find in another bank. Yes we could live outside London and commute but don't underestimate the transport costs - if we lived in Milton Keynes for example (my home town) he'd have to pay £600 per month for the train.

We certainly don't live there to gloat over our postcode! I'd love to get out of London, we are looking to buy our first property and could barely afford a flat let alone a house, childcare costs are astronomical too.

It didn't come across as tongue in cheek lurker

You're protesting so much it's almost worthy of a head tilt tbh.

It's a bit of a weird thread, tbh. So far there have been accusations of it being offensive to suggest that there's lots of stuff to do with kids in London, probably more than any other single place, and that's it's offensive for immigrants to say that they feel more welcome in London than other parts of the U.K. they've experienced.

I find the comments on here odd, why do others get offended when it's suggested there is more to do in London- of course there is, it's the capital city, there should be more to do here than anywhere else in the country.

Oh come on Eternal, all the stuff on here that is quite sneery just got my goat so I thought I'd ham it up a bit, do you think anyone would write such a response ( with the elongated expressions) when it wasn't supposed to be a bit of a mick take?

DISCLAIMER: I bear no grudge to people living outside London, having grown up in the NE myself. I just get a little frazzled when people are presumptious, snotty, and patronising about how "they couldn't possibly" having loved living here for longer than I care to admit.

It's just as irritating to hear over and over about the museums, parks, free kids events, good transport, theatres etc in London tbh, like the rest of the Country don't have them. It makes me every time.

I also take what a lot of Londoners say with a pinch of salt tbh because I don't believe for one second that every London family is out at a different museum, art gallery or exhibition every weekend! Which is what mn would have you believe.

But eternal, no one starts threads that say "Why does anyone struggle to live in Manchester/Dorest/Hull" do they?