London exodus??

[Newdonewhugh]

Has anyone else noticed that their Town has a lot of people moving from London?
Are local Town and village FB pages literally have 2/3/4 people a day joining and posting with the likes of “I’m moving to ..... from London next week, can anyone help me with X,Y,Z”
My Sister and others said they’ve noticed it too.
We live in South Coast.
I just wonder what this New World will look like. What will happen to London?

Well for those of us who aren't leaving, London has been lovely for being emptier.

An exodus from London is not necessarily a good thing for the UK as London is a powerhouse of the global economy. Any demise of London will mean a demise of the UK economy as a whole.

For example, if future roles no longer need to be office-based in London, these roles won't necessarily be created elsewhere in the UK instead. These can be diverted anywhere else in the world and could well result in a loss for the UK economy.

Not aware of any exodus from my part of London (South West).

@Lindy2

In 12 months time when 2 of the big accountancy firms are pitching a big tender to the same client, who do you realistically think will get the contract. The team who turn up face to face to do a presentation and establish a connection and raport with the client or the person talking through Zoom who is efficient but just on a screen?

It will be the face to face pitch because humans relate best to other humans in real life.

As soon as pitches are los, because employees aren't there, they will be summoned back to meet their clients face to face again - regardless of where they now live and regardless of what the employer might be saying right now.

Lower rent costs for having less office space might be attractive right now but if they start to loose the competitive edge by not having staff on site and start to make less £££ things will change. Clients are accepting Zoom meetings for now because it's necessary. It's not what they would choose though once there are other options again.

I’m sure you’re absolutely correct about pitches but that’s just one part of business. It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices.

All the people from London moving here seem very friendly on Facebook. If anything a bit over friendly! Like desperately trying to be part of a community... “Oh thank you all so much for your help, we will be honoured to be part of your community, we love it here” and so on.

In reality, it’s just another Town in the UK where people pretty much ignore each other.

will all those civil service jobs actually move that the government are saying?

It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices.

There are plenty of others. Attracting talent (particularly young talent), having a good space to network in/host events, a desirable location to work with clients day to day.

Fact is, any of these businesses could have ‘downsized’ to humbler buildings in less popular locations a long time ago. They deemed the extra cost worth it. I’d be surprised if that fundamentally changed.

Londoners are a friendly bunch...

In my town half the people are locals born and bred, and half the people are from London. It's been for a while since before covid. It's very difficult to even buy a place round here now there's so little on the market. Southeast

We are in Devon and our letting agents said they have a long long waiting list for property becoming available with people wanting to move from London and its surrounding areas. Working from home is now easier for so many people it doesn't matter if they don't live close to their employer now.

Who are they selling the flats too??

I’m sure you’re absolutely correct about pitches but that’s just one part of business. It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices.
And yet it's been that way for decades 🤷🏻‍♀️

Banks were already reducing their footfall per Covid so of course it will have an impact

www.google.co.uk/amp/s/www.bloomberg.com/amp/news/articles/2020-07-06/banks-are-ditching-london-offices-and-not-just-because-of-covid

I’m sure you’re absolutely correct about pitches but that’s just one part of business. It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices.

How does that work in reality? You either need it or not. You can’t pitch somewhere pretending it’s your permanent space.

@JuliaJohnston

I’m sure you’re absolutely correct about pitches but that’s just one part of business. It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices. And yet it's been that way for decades 🤷🏻‍♀️

They used horse drawn carriages for centuries - and now we don’t.

This doesn’t surprise me. Of the four couples we’re closest to, two are leaving London completely and the other two are buying second homes in the country.

It’s not a reason to maintain hugely expensive offices.

They will exist just not so big & quite as expensive.

People have been moving down to Cornwall for years but around here, SE Cornwall, nothing is on the market for long, even houses close to busy roads, its madness.

One in particular, i thought, would never sell as its close (100m) to an A road, known for its accidents and 'mare to get out from, sold for 500k.

I wonder where those selling, are moving too?

Is WeWork still the largest private tenant in London? Wonder what the impact of their falling valuation will be.

@jasjas1973 those sellers are scooting back to London and can’t believe their luck!

Same here
Home Counties small town

They'll be bitterly disappointed when they find out the ofsted school outstanding has such a small catchment 🤔
They are really pushing the prices up for 60,s boxes not in catchment 😱

We live in central london (W1) and so many flats around us never have lights on now, I think as well as families moving out that young folk have given up their tenancies and moved home with parents, or foreign residents have gone back home for now.

@Lindy2
"In 12 months time when 2 of the big accountancy firms are pitching a big tender to the same client, who do you realistically think will get the contract. The team who turn up face to face to do a presentation and establish a connection and raport with the client or the person talking through Zoom who is efficient but just on a screen?

It will be the face to face pitch because humans relate best to other humans in real life"

The thing is though clients won't be in the office, they'll be on zoom.

Technology was already making much of the office unnecessary and this has accelerated it. Offices won't disappear, the question is whether it's typically 1 day a week or 2 in the office.

Definitely a thing also though lots of people moving from inner to outer London for larger houses with gardens etc. Only time will tell.