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?

2 new staff members from Greater London in the last year.

@Ohtherewearethen

It'd be such a shame if it happens on such a large scale that it makes house prices for locals unachievable.

Which locals?

If property prices in London drop, London locals will be able to achieve ownership.

Or are there some places where locals should be allowed to buy no matter how great the demand, and others where it doesn't matter if they're priced out?

Yes. Here in South East Cornwall prices have really gone up. We sold our cottage on the first viewing, full asking price.

The people who bought it are planning to move in 2-3 years from now.

@thepeopleversuswork

Newdonewhugh

Yes but the housing market is booming everywhere at the moment -- including in London. So it may be that lots of people are moving into your area but that doesn't necessarily mean that London is being drained. I can assure you where I live (London suburbs) the propery market is on fire.

But here the majority of house buyers, renters are not local! That's really unusual as we aren't really anywhere at all glam! It's a pretty deprived area on the edge of a nice, but more deprived city and equally deprived AONB.

We get cut off quite regualrly bur flood, have regular power cuts for no reason and our broadband is slow! We don'rt even have an Ikea within about 40 miles!

Yet we are getting lots and lots of people new from various metropolis!

New housing, old housing as long as it is large... all leaving the local market in unprecendented numbers!

We moved to our town from London - best move we made. The town I'm living in has a new estate built a year ago which has been very hard to sell. Just started moving now and there does seem to be a move from the London suburbs.

Having said that, when we moved here 13 years ago, every third or so mum at the school gate said 'snap' when I said we'd moved from London - so it's not a new phenomenon. I think it's just social media encourages more people to say 'we're here'.

40 minutes train ride to London from my midlands town. Not sure if people have clicked on to the amount of redevelopment happening here, which was already pushing house prices up.

The market was initially flooded with big houses which sold quickly. Terraced and flats are hanging around at the moment.

Yes. I'm in the south east. London councils are buying properties for those who need social housing which isn't available there. Plus, as we are about a 45 minute train journey from London, we get a lot of workers relocating for cheaper property prices, especially in the coastal areas.

Will be interesting to see what happens when people have to be in the office 3/4/5 days a week and realise how exhausting and expensive commuting is. Bit like people who think that having a dog during lockdown because they've suddenly got 'more time' is sensible.

Seems odd to me that so many people appear to be thinking WFH is now a permanent change. I don’t believe it is for a second.

In my rural village (Essex/Suffolk border) three houses that have been on the market for ages have suddenly sold- one went on the market in March 2019, the others were all on the market before the first lockdown.
There also seem to be quite a lot of strangers around.
Nearest main line station is about an hour from Liverpool Street in the peak period, so its always been a commuter area.

Which locals?

If property prices in London drop, London locals will be able to achieve ownership.

Or are there some places where locals should be allowed to buy no matter how great the demand, and others where it doesn't matter if they're priced out?

That's a bit of a mixed message, isn't it?

If some Londoners move out them some other Londoners will be able to afford to buy in London - all good!

And in many other places locals will be ousted by newly exLondoners - also all good?

The housing market is bad enough as it is. This isust adding another layer of deprivation on already deprived areas!

I remember when there used to be 6 million living in Greater London. Might have been about 30 years ago. Must have gone up a lot since then. 30 years ago doesn't seem that long ago to me although it sounds a lot!

I've considered it myself to further into South East but everytime I do, I remind myself that my 25min commute is still cycable, but a 25min or even 35 min commute further out is too far and doesn't give me any option if trains are messed up.

So for now im staying

@shivermetimbers77

I suspect the vaccine may make quite a big difference to all of this. We shall see.

I suspect you're right and commuting cost are going to go through the roof in an attempt to claw back lost revenue plus they'll cut services too, so you'll be crammed in like sardines and standing for 90 minutes with somebody's push bike blocking the doors. I guess that maybe OK if you're only in the office 2 days a week but any more than that and it gonna start to pall.

I live in a naice commuter town outside London, so we've always had lots of Londoners moving here, but things aren't busier than normal, probably because the turnover of houses here is quiet low. We've had a couple of speculative flyers from estate agents through the door along the lines of 'Thinking of selling? We have LOTS of people eager to buy a house like yours'. They go straight in the bin!

No point paying extortionate London prices when you can work from home.

All those people who work in the city and pay ridiculous commuter costs or paid through the nose for a tiny flat in London are probably loving working from big, spacious period properties in lovely villages at half the price!!

On n wales coastline 800k upward house selling within a day. Agents are scrambling to get more properties on their books. When you see houses for 1.5 million selling within a week, you know there is a rush on. A bungalow in our cul de sac was sold before it even got onto rightmove. It is a mad market out there.

I’m in London and yes there are lots of families from here moving out to rural areas or smaller towns.

However, they were all people who were going to move out of London “sooner or later” and lockdown has just accelerated their plans.

I wonder if there may therefore be fewer than normal people moving over the next few years, which will balance out the extra people moving this year?

@ktp100

No point paying extortionate London prices when you can work from home.

All those people who work in the city and pay ridiculous commuter costs or paid through the nose for a tiny flat in London are probably loving working from big, spacious period properties in lovely villages at half the price!!

Until the spring... 😁

Maybe the coast is doing better than other areas atm because people really got out and experienced it this year.

Yes, but it has been happening for years now. We were outbid on a 3/4 bed detached house by a family from London who could offer cash for the house from the profit they had made selling their London property. They now live mortgage free in this detached house and the mother no longer needs to work and they have 2-3 nice cars. All from selling one London property.

London is a great city but is expensive, even allowing for London weighting. I guess that is subjective depending on your financial circumstances though.

@CountrysideIsForEveryone

Yes, but it has been happening for years now. We were outbid on a 3/4 bed detached house by a family from London who could offer cash for the house from the profit they had made selling their London property. They now live mortgage free in this detached house and the mother no longer needs to work and they have 2-3 nice cars. All from selling one London property.

But that's always been the case. Everyone knows property prices far outside London are cheaper? Some people still prefer to live in London, believe it or not; this was the case when they moved in.

Yes all the time , I feel sorry for the ones buying the overpriced houses near the scrapyard , the dump and the sewage works

A lot of companies I know are shutting some of their offices, and moving to a blend of: wfh, work in the office and a mixture. Which means a lot of people will at the most only have to go in the office a day or two a week.
The organisation I work for is advertising a lot of its vacancies as "location independent". Which means they really don't mind where you live.
And there are ways to collaborate from a distance.

But also having grown up in London it isn't the place it was - it is far more crowded, it hasn't been this full since before WWI. But the biggest factor could be Brexit, we just have to see.