To be pissed off about where we live?

[Beautifulblue]

Just a rant because I'm just PO tbh. Me (27), partner (28) & 1 daughter who is 1yo. We live (& were born in Brighton) we've made do up until this point with a 1 bed (cheap at 800pcm) but really need 2 bedrooms now DD is getting older.. problem is, we can't afford it. DP works full time, I work part time. Almost all (half decent & I mean HALF) 2 beds are £1200+ where we live. Even places within 5+ miles are the same price. How is this fair? We're being forced out of the town we were born in because of ridiculous rent prices & low wages! I just don't know what we're going to do. Places around 15-20 miles away you can get a 2 bed house for 900pcm & the wages are the same there. But all our family/friends & jobs are here. To top it off estate agents want fees, guarantors & your first born to even consider renting to you. Sick of greedy landlords & tight employers! AIBU to think you should be able to afford to stay in the town you were born in!?

It might be more ideal for you in the long run if you move completely to somewhere cheaper, (don't know where though, you would have to look online at homes to rent to get an idea of what rents are in different places), you might be able to find somewhere bigger and cheaper, but it all depends on if you can get jobs in the other town, and it also depends on if you actually want to move...

If you want to stay in your town, I've found where I live the nearer to town or the more posher areas the higher the rent, the further away from these areas the rent decreases..

@Anxious2niteaaah thanks for your response. I would move tbh (begrudgingly) but DP is completely against it & I understand why. If we did move out of Brighton we'd also have to take travelling expenses into consideration. Is 'London wages' a real thing? Because I think Brighton should really be considered for this as rent prices just keep rising & rising!

What is your joint income and total outgoings (or outgoings as a % of income if you don't want to post numbers)? Could you cut back somewhere? I know that's not the point of the op and I really do feel for you, but unfortunately the reality of a capitalist society is that people are priced out all over the place. YANBU that it isn't fair but considering it's not going to change any time soon, is there anything you can do to make things more affordable? Any benefits you're not claiming but are entitled to? Any less "naice" areas of town which might have lower rent (and may be renovated in coming years)?

Move to the North East, I pay £620 pcm for a 4 bed, 2 bath, 3 story house. The cost of living here is also cheaper. Would be a massive move so very unlikely but there is cheaper places, could be a new start?

What about shifting to saltdean?

I am a Londoner and feel your pain. It’s shite isn’t it? As for a London wage I work in London and live in London and have never heard of a London wage? I’m a shared owner (joint with my husband) and could never afford to buy a place outright where I live (zone 3).

Do you mind me asking how your family (parents, siblings etc) are able to stay so central to Brighton but you are not able to? Could you sign up with a HA (albeit I know some have waiting lists and criterion). I’ve seen similar in London so may be something that Brighton might adopt.

Wow ifoundthebread that's an amazing price! I pay £600 in Yorkshire for 2 bed house (the third bedroom is very very small I've never tried to fit a bed in it it might just fit a bed).

Sadly that's how it is with market forces. You want to live in a popular area, you will have to pay premium prices.

Moving inland would certainly reduce your rental costs, and the further away from London the cheaper it will get (until you come into the "orbit" of another popular city, like Oxford or Winchester).

Portsmouth is pretty cheap.

I had clients the other day who moved from Brighton to Portsmouth to buy a house to make life better for their children. They've made new friends, travel to see family in Brighton once a month and are super happy. Just move somewhere cheaper. By the way a lot of this area is beautiful just need to get advice on the best places .

DP takes home £1200 & I take home £640. (Pitiful I know) unfortunately, we were both to cool for school 11 years ago DP parents bought a house in peacehaven & my parents bought a house in portslade (both outside of Brighton so slighter cheaper to buy although rent prices don't seem much different) they would of preferred different areas but had to make do. I have looked at saltdean, peacehaven, lancing, shoreham (all outside Brighton) still to expensive. We would have to move 10miles+ out. Also, housing is an absolute nightmare down here - aunty has been band b with her 2 children for ten years no exaggeration. She has been in temporary accommodation (private place rented by the council.) Also, once they offer you a place you have to take it, what ever/where ever it is & if you refuse they just kick you off the list. 🤦🏼‍♀️

Tbh a fresh start some where is actually appealing to me in some ways. Although I think if we did actually do it (& DP probably never would) I would get lonely, we have a very close family & they pop round often, I think the grandparents would really miss DD. Maybe not us quite as badly

I feel your pain, OP. I live a mile away from my parents, my brother lives nearby too (though he and his wife have bought and we rent). It’s a lovely area and I was brought up here. But we need more space and a garden for the kids and we already pay more in rent than we really should, so we’re going to have to move further out. But it seems so unfair when this is my home area and I can’t afford to live here! Even if we could afford to move to the kind of property we want, the chances of ever being able to buy are next to nothing as we pay so much in rent that we can barely save anything. It’s horrid. But the thought of moving and paying hundreds out to letting agents makes me feel sick.

Just had a quick look on RM and there's a 2 bed flat there for £900 pm at Meadway court. It looks lovely though obvs I don't know the area and there might be all sorts of problems...

Same here sadly. We're both on full time decent wages but have put off having kids due to housing situation. We are looking for a place to buy now but we're 32/33 and we're only going to get older. It worries me tbh, not just for us but others too.

ifoundthebread

The North East is a great place to live for many, but people need to check out employment prospects. There are often good reasons why property is cheaper to rent.

@BMW6
Sadly that's how it is with market forces. You want to live in a popular area, you will have to pay premium prices.

Whilst I appreciate this if you want to up sticks & move somewhere popular expect to pay the price, but if you're born there should you really be forced out? Brighton wasn't what it is now when I was born. It's just our home town... think it's a bit shit tbh! But I suppose there is no resolution, not like locals could get cheaper rent etc... landlords wouldn't like that... or it would be..
no pets
No DSS
no locals!!

Not the immediate solution but can you make any changes or do any training the improves your career prospects and therefore earnings? I know people who commute from Brighton to London for career jobs paying far more but commuting isn’t for everyone I know.

10 miles isn't too bad if you have a car. Obviously I appreciate you might not have transport.

I know it's shit but my impression of Brighton is that it's full of people moving down from London and pushing the prices up, plus you're living by the sea. It is always going to be very expensive.

10 miles is nothing.

Too cool for school does have a cost OP. I daresay you were warned!

I know this exact feeling OP we live in the south east.

Are now looking for somewhere else, we have other things to take into consideration but we can find nothing in our budget at all, or not without a guarantor earning 35-40k, I am not sure we know anyone who earns that much who would be that trustful, its a hell of a thing to ask.

Plus you are right, fees etc all push it up. I would love to move up north, but we have to consider my DSS who loves 15 minutes from us, so for now its a bit tough shit and to try and find somewhere

I feel for you op. I went to uni in Brighton and I was so sad when I had to leave, wages at the time were below national average and housing above national average. I’m in Hampshire now and close to some family, I miss the sea.

Where I am now is fairly expensive, we are an hour from London, we thought about moving somewhere cheaper but my mum and mil helped with childcare when the kids were tiny and that was actually more valuable than a reduction in rent. Now they’re bigger we’re settled really, we’re resigned to a small house in an expensive part of the world.

House prices are a scandal. YANBU hope you find somewhere soon.

We were in a 1 bed until my dd was 20 months and it was tough after she turned 1.

@Fucksgiven 😂😂

Although as someone who has no ties to the place they were born I do object to this idea that locals should have more rights over a place, I get why people feel like this but where I live there is some hostility to people who weren’t born here, and I feel actually I have as much right to a say and to services etc as anyone who’s been here generations.

If you got a 2 bed would you not get partial housing benefit to help with the rent?