Poor people being priced out

[veggifriedbreakfast]

I live in East London and need to move, I currently rent a 2 bedroom flat. But, looking around now, for a 2 bedroom the minimal is £1400 a month up to £2000 for a 2 bed!!!

It seems to me that what is happening is that actually poor people are being priced out of London. I lived in Stratford and had to move out of there due to the market going up and now where I am again it's happening. How can people on lesser incomes afford this? I am now looking to having to uproot ds again and move even further out because of this. Aibu in thinking that this is a part of forcing the poorer people out of London?

Edinburgh is like this too. Rent is ridiculous. People who have lived in their own homes for years/their whole lives can't afford to move to another property in Edinburgh because the prices have rocketed.
There has also been an influx of Southerners moving here because it's so cheap in comparison to where they lived....which adds to the out pricing of property.

Legislation needs to be introduced to stop foreign investors buying up blocks of apartments as a safe haven for their money and leaving them empty , thus putting Orion the market and increasing prices.

btw I am politically homeless so no agenda with this comment

I understood it was Tony Blair's government who wanted to have London as one of these awful global cities designed for rich people to inflate the cost of living - and ironically it was only the Tories who put some kind of disincentive on BTL.

though we clearly need a total ban on "buy to leave empty and use as an alternative to gold".

Freudian of course I got that.

You’re saying there shouldn’t be any private landlords.

So presumably you mean the renting sector should be nationalised (other than where a homeowner is renting out a room).

LighthouseSouth

Did you study history at school?London being a world city and extremely desirable place to live is not a new phenomenon

Every time I read threads like this I'm so surprised at how expensive it is to live in London.

I live on the North-west coast. We have a two-bedroom house with a garden, five minutes from the beach and we pay £300 a month for it. That's mortgage, but even renting rates are similar. The house needed a bit of work (new carpets and it will need a new kitchen soon) but because our mortgage is so low, we can easily afford to do the upgrades.

Neither of us earn big money (approx 16k each) for a 37.5 hour week. I commute 45 minutes but DP only works around the corner. It's fab :)

The rental housing market being “dealt with” by local Gov and housing associations would be nationalisation!

Housing associations are government agencies.

Yes and the problem is what’s classed as commutable is growing. So suddenly “London” prices now cover As west as Basingstoke (starting to touch Swindon), east is deep into Essex past Chelmsford and Colchester, South is Brighton, north is Luton, oxford.

It is a huuuuge area, if you just happen to live in that circle your screwed. If your family live in that circle and you want to be near your parents as they age your stuffed. “London” prices now cover a far far far greater area than just the m25 like it did 10 years ago

Yes, London rents are / have been high. But, haven't rents been dropping over the past couple of years?

My impression was that Brexit uncertainty had caused many EU citizens to leave, creating significant numbers of empty flats so rents have been dropping. There is now much more supply and much less demand.

Also have heard that there are many more 'flat share' situations than before, so rental costs are divided amongst occupants - thus making London more 'affordable'. Not a practical economic solution for families though.

Tbh they need to look into doing what hong kong did and give a tax on buying for oversea buyers to cool the market.

Both DH and I work in London. We live about 1hr commute away in the general area where we grew up. It's never occurred to us that we have any kind of entitlement to live in London, despite working there. We couldn't now, nor could ever have been able to afford to buy a property that would adequately house us in London. I don't really see a problem with that. We chose to work in London for the better opportunities work wise that gave us, and the price to pay for that is the commute. I've never felt that we have the right to live in the most expensive place in the country, because we are fairly middling earners. If we no longer were prepared to do the commute, we'd look for a different job more locally, accepting this would mean a lower salary and lesser opportunities.

In my experience, most of the people that I know who work in London commute from Z6 or further afield, an hour or so commute is fairly normal. If you want to avoid that, you need to pay the premium city property prices.

I think for pretty much all major cities, you pay a premium to live there. I'm not sure why anyone would expect otherwise.

list.juwai.com/news/2016/11/what-hong-kong-s-tax-change-tells-about-chinese-property-demand

Limboluna - that's probably why York prices are rocketing - it's only two hours to Kings Cross by train. It's becoming commuter belt!

@Caribbeanyesplease

"Did you study history at school?" - this made me weep with laughter.

I AM London history, my dear

I meant a specific set of changes to laws about tax for buying property as a foreign investor. Labour actively wanted a lot more of it. You can't deny there is a lot more of it than there was in the 70s & 80s.

of course we have no way of knowing what the Tories would have done in that time - possibly exactly the same. One reason I'm politically homeless is that they do all seem to have the same approach in wanting so much development, increasing prices and increasing population.

after decades of being politically involved, I'm now aiming at giving up and living on a farm up north as soon as we've retired. I can only conclude this is the London people actually want.

a friend works as PA in a large property development company and she says plans are under discussion for pitching hostel type accommodation for key workers. I find that depressing too. But there's no revolution coming.

I'm so glad I found this thread! We are currently working and renting in London, drowning in debt and paying more than half our household income in rent and childcare alone.
I have a job interview in the midlands on Wednesday and could potentially be looking at moving myself, husband and my young son up there.
I am a North Eastener by birth but grew up in Bournemouth and now work in London. I am so excited at the prospect of actually having some spare cash left at the end of each month, its unreal!
I came on looking to see if I could get some great Mumsnet advice about what it's like to live up north, bingo!

Social housing and in-work benefits are the cause off high prices in London. Around half of zone 1 housing stock is social housing.
Employers like being in London, social housing and in-work benefits mean they do not pay the cost of being there, so more employers locate there than should.
Make it too expensive to employ key workers and employers will re-locate across the country, making thing better for all.

mrsm43s "I've never felt that we have the right to live in the most expensive place in the country, because we are fairly middling earners. "

but what happens about essential staff like nurses, hospital porters, cleaners?

"changes to laws about tax for buying property as a foreign investor. Labour actively wanted a lot more of it."

Can you evidence this claim? Foreign buyers in London has been going on for a long, long time.

"You can't deny there is a lot more of it than there was in the 70s & 80s."

A bit more, but that is more to do with globalisation and not the governments of the day.

Most of your post is just nonsense and confirmation bias tbh.

Prices in London are eye watering. We pay £375 a month for a large 3 bed, 2 bath house with a front and rear garden in South Wales. I don't know how people afford it.

I AM London history, my dear grin

Now that made me laugh!

You're going to need to back up that claim about social housing caroldecker.

"Social housing and in-work benefits are the cause off high prices in London. "

Social housing is not let out at market rate, so doesn't effect the private market. Its also been built by the government and wouldn't have been built by the private sector, so crowding out is not taking place.