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?

Not necessarily of their choosing but the government should not have policies that force house prices so high that families have to uproot their lives over and over again just to be able to keep affording a roof over their heads.

Indeed teasandtoast. People seem not to understand that this isn't the inevitable consequence of market forces, that in fact we don't have a free market in respect of housing. Some of the arguments would at least make logical sense if we did, even if one didn't agree with them ethically.

But there really needs to be some critical examination of the situation and understanding that we didn't actually have to keep property prices artificially propped up. Because that's what successive administrations have done, and even in areas where prices have declined since 2007 the multiples are still too high relative to local median incomes. It doesn't actually have to be like this.

This doesn't happen since the benefits cap.

The working poor are frequently unaffected by the benefits cap, since it doesn't apply if an adult in the household works sufficient hours.

How on earth could that be racist Freudian? (Sorry not sure from your post whether you agreed with it or not.)

There are gazillions of great Londoners who were either born and raised there or have lived in the capital for 20 years or more who are not Caucasian. Making an allowance such as this IMO has absolutely nothing to do with colour, religion etc. but everything to do with allowing people to continue their lives in the place they call home

Nothing to do with me at all but it does make me so, so sad when I read of people who cannot find a reasonably priced, decent home in an area which is their life really. ☹️

It discriminated against anyone not from the area, to be fair. You could be a White British person from a pit village who'd got on your bike and looked for work and you'd miss out because of this policy too. There's a discussion to be had about whether it's better for society to prioritise people being able to stay in the areas they're from for all kinds of positive reasons, but equally if we do that it's not just immigrants who don't get a shot.

@topcat none of those flats are affordable if you're a single person and that rent is your entire net monthly salary! I live in London and I don't know a single person who HASN'T compromised. Literally every single working adult I know lives in a shared rented house, some in areas that definitely aren't considered nice.

I'm staggered by the reverence of capitalism on this thread. Any situation that precludes people purely on the basis of not being able to afford it is inherently wrong. A home should be affordable for everyone, and you shouldn't have to 'earn' the right to live in a certain part of the country. That is social cleansing. I'm fully in favour of nationalising the entire rental market, or at least implementing caps on how many properties one person can own and how much profit they can make. There should be a cap on house prices too, scrap right to buy, and raise the minimum wage. I'm not saying everyone should live in absolute luxury but a home is a pretty basic need. It absolutely is up to the government to intervene but of course they won't, because half of MPs are landlords! Fancy that

There is lots of things I cant afford, I dont expect a tax payer handout/subsidy to get them. Live within your means, if you cant afford to rent in one area then dont rent in that area.

London is expensive, go rent somewhere else, if you have chosen to live there and find that you cant afford it, then stop complaining about not getting a handout from the state.

"none of those flats are affordable if you're a single person and that rent is your entire net monthly salary! "

Most single people in London live in shared accommodation not two bed flats, renting two bed flats on your own has always been expensive here.

"I live in London and I don't know a single person who HASN'T compromised"

Those flats are all well within reach of a couple on below the London average salary.

I’m watching my hometown slowly being destroyed by the exodus from London (we are 45 minutes by train Fromm Liverpool Street) it was a lovely little market town as I was growing up, now everybody available bit of green space is being built on and with the massive influx of people the local infrastructure can’t cope! There’s been a lot of social housing built which has actually created its own problems as there is now a lot of anti social behaviour. Before I get flamed for associating social housing with anti social behaviour the particular development you can buy a gorgeous decent size can flat for 30k less than other areas of the town due to it’s horrendous reputation

"Those flats are all well within reach of a couple on below the London average salary."

Better try not to be a single parent then, eh?

Better try not to be a single parent then, eh?
Yeah its called marriage before babies, aka birth control.

The flipside of 'I can't afford to live in London despite growing up there' are the people who live in places like the Welsh valleys where there is very little work, who equally simply want to live and work near to where they grew up too.

For them, it's not housing that's too expensive, far from it, it's the chronic lack of employment opportunities. Why on earth should they be forced to move far from their family and friends to find work?

Not concentrating the majority of jobs and investment in things like public transport (London gets far far more per head spent than other parts of the country, despite already having much better public transport) wouldn't just ease the pressure on the south east it would make things better for other parts of the country, so fewer people would 'have' to move to London for work so London wouldn't be as crowded and more people could work where they grew up.

Maybe employers need encouragement to set up in areas lacking in jobs and put buses on so people can get to work if there isn't suitable public transport?

Yeah its called marriage before babies, aka birth control.

My eyes just rolled so hard they hit the back of my head.

It isn’t social cleansing. It’s supply and demand. Loads of people want to live in London, there isn’t enough housing or space. Therefore prices are sky high and only the rich can live there. That’s not some kind of prejudice, that’s economics. Quality of life is a lot higher outside London anyway IMO.

"Better try not to be a single parent then, eh?"

But that wasn't the example the previous poster gave was it?

If you are a single parent things are definitely harder, but if you are on a low income CTC should help?

why should it be a basic right. ?
Lots of young people from the provinces would love to work/live in London but cannot afford it

You are talking about London specifically. My post came from the perspective of having already moved away from London, then again even further, now we are still getting priced out. If we moved ‘up North’ as seems to be the answer to every housing trouble thread on MN, we would get paid significantly less (well my DH would) for his industry. The eldest children would not be able to see their biological father, nobody would be able to look after my parents and nobody could help me get to work when my kids are too ill to go to school. The eldest would leave secondary school while studying for GCSE and the others have already had their lives uprooted as we moved, moved and moved again to afford a house.

I don’t think I have a right to live in London. I DO think that as a tax payer we should be able to put roots down without constantly being priced out because of government housing policy.

You don't have to be on a "low income" to struggle in London, fgs.

I know 30 somethings who are higher rate taxpayers living in shared houses.

I know people who are putting off getting married and starting families indefinitely because a shared house is all they can afford and it's not exactly conducive to adult life with a family.

Fine when you're 23, not so much when you're 33.

"I know 30 somethings who are higher rate taxpayers living in shared houses."

Then they are doing so out of choice and not necessity, as we have shown on this thread. There are flats out there that are affordable to a huge number of people with London incomes.

But not everyone can live in a flat. I’ve got kids I can’t squeeze us all in one.

Then they are doing so out of choice and not necessity, as we have shown on this thread.

I think you are hopelessly out of touch.

Nothing you are posting comes across as though you actually understand the pressures these people are under.

Exactly, 'poor people' have never been able to afford London or the South East and even relatively well off people can't afford the standard of living they aspire to or can in other parts of the country.

I earn £40k in Leeds, even if I earned £50-60k or more in London, I wouldn't be able to afford to buy a house similar to what I have now - a 2 bed semi with a large garden. It would probably not even be affordable even if I had a partner earning a similar amount and the deposit from selling my current property, which would be around £100k. And that's two people earning well above average, even for London with a healthy deposit.

I might be able to afford something on the outskirts, but then would face a costly and lengthy commute.

We have a combined income of 47k. I don’t think we are ‘poor people’ but because rents are so high we can’t save a deposit quick enough to keep up with the rises or fulfill the strict criteria mortgage compsnies want now.

Then they are doing so out of choice and not necessity, as we have shown on this thread. There are flats out there that are affordable to a huge number of people with London incomes

What, to buy? HRT = 40% tax from £45k+? I was reading today, that a 'high risk mortgage' was one that was above 4.5x earnings, so to not be in that position, someone on £50k could get a mortgage of £225k, so they could buy at around £250k if they have a £25k deposit, which of course would be piss easy to save while they were paying London rents.

Are there lots of flats in London for £250k? In areas that are not shithole? That don't have huge commuting costs? What about service charges? A flat may be affordable, but add on service charges and commuting costs, and that will be a huge struggle.