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?

Won't all the people moving out of London just have to move back when there's a vaccine and everyone has to work in offices again?

No. I can't see why anyone would want to move to where I live from London. They would miss the bright lights too much. As you are on the South coast you are still within easy reach of London.

But it takes hrs to get to London from here. I am in between Portsmouth and Brighton. It’s over 2 hrs on train. So def not easy teach.

-reach

It's exciting change I think. I'm staying in London myself (well, suburbs) but totally get the appeal of escaping to the country or seaside.
I think it's a combination of factors but also that people have had lots of time to evaluate, prioritise and take the risks they always wanted to. Combine this with societal change toward working from home and it gives people way more choice over where they live.
It will be interesting in a year or two to see how it all pans out.

@Proudboomer

Lots of new builds around me too. I just hope the people buying them don’t want a doctor, dentist or school place as well as we don’t have enough of these for the people already here.

That's pretty much the situation here, too. There were plans for a new health centre to be built under a bribe S106 agreement attached to the planning consent for a delevlopment of 400+ homes, but the development seems to have stalled as the PP was granted several years ago.

I daresay an influx of DFL's may well make it more attractive to get those 400 houses and flats built, and then we may get our new health centre.

Have had a couple of people from my office based in London sell up and move out of London in the past few months. One relocated to Leeds and the other to Bristol. This was back in July/August when all the talk was about closing the office and becoming a permanently remote company.

Those plans have been fully shelved and we will go back to normal as soon as possible. Senior management have decided that despite people claiming they are more productive, they are actually not. People might be able to do general tasks and basic work but anything collaborative, strategic and done as part of a team just isn't happening. We also lost out on a new client, the pitch had been planned fully remotely whereas one of our competitors went back to their offices back in August, their pitch blew ours out of the water and it wasn't even a contest.

Those that have now moved are completely screwed and will likely have to try and commute or find new jobs, they are likely to have flexible working requests refused and whilst we will be sympathetic and maybe allow them to wfh 1-2 days a week, doing it on a permanent basis is not likely to be possible.

Well I have had 4 neighbours move out over the Summer where traditionally only 1 would move out if moving. Also 4 dc in my daughters class have left/are leaving which is higher than normal.

I think I read pre Covid that more people (particularly families) were leaving London then ever before.

House prices are obvs prohibitive & wfh gives a new freedom to some. Maybe its a cycle, when my parents bought in London, the only people who did in the same area were immigrants like them. It wasn't very nice.

@sally067

Have had a couple of people from my office based in London sell up and move out of London in the past few months. One relocated to Leeds and the other to Bristol. This was back in July/August when all the talk was about closing the office and becoming a permanently remote company.

Those plans have been fully shelved and we will go back to normal as soon as possible. Senior management have decided that despite people claiming they are more productive, they are actually not. People might be able to do general tasks and basic work but anything collaborative, strategic and done as part of a team just isn't happening. We also lost out on a new client, the pitch had been planned fully remotely whereas one of our competitors went back to their offices back in August, their pitch blew ours out of the water and it wasn't even a contest.

Those that have now moved are completely screwed and will likely have to try and commute or find new jobs, they are likely to have flexible working requests refused and whilst we will be sympathetic and maybe allow them to wfh 1-2 days a week, doing it on a permanent basis is not likely to be possible.

Yes, I've heard of several similar instances.

How many people here were born & raised in London? There was a time when many pockets were not considered desirable to live in.

What will all these people do if things go back to normal and they're expected to commute 2+ hours each way to work everyday?

Will it go back to normal though. Certainly I know the people working in banking & law are never looking at going back to pre covid. There will either be a mix eg 1-2 days in the office or smaller hubs dotted about. Many companies have made huge savings & maintained productivity.

@kurtainwoz

How many people here were born & raised in London? There was a time when many pockets were not considered desirable to live in.

Millions of people. It's only outsiders who ask that question.

Millions of lifelong Londoners, whose family have been here for generations, are sick of everyone else acting like it isn't a real home town for anyone. It is. The ignorance is quite amazing.

@kurtainwoz

What will all these people do if things go back to normal and they're expected to commute 2+ hours each way to work everyday?

Will it go back to normal though. Certainly I know the people working in banking & law are never looking at going back to pre covid. There will either be a mix eg 1-2 days in the office or smaller hubs dotted about. Many companies have made huge savings & maintained productivity.

Interesting if it’s never. Are clients ok with zoom meetings over in person ones?

In creative sector it will go back. As clients will prefer in person and teams working together

Seriously, the number of people from small towns who move here and then say "But nobody's actually from here, are they?" Yes we are. Literally millions of people.

Interesting if it’s never. Are clients ok with zoom meetings over in person ones?
I seriously doubt it; once the necessity has passed.

Will it go back to normal though. Certainly I know the people working in banking & law are never looking at going back to pre covid. There will either be a mix eg 1-2 days in the office or smaller hubs dotted about. Many companies have made huge savings & maintained productivity.

They say that now but I suspect things will revert to pre-covid normal fairly quickly and many peoples dreams of being able to wfh permanently will be a flash in the pan. Many companies will realise there is a big competitive advantage to having an office. Once you find companies losing out on customers opting for companies that have an office there won't be a lot of choice in the matter.

1-2 days wfh will soon become 3-5, you'll find the idea of smaller hubs actually harder to manage and less cost-effective, etc.

@Panicmode1

We are in Tunbridge Wells and the market is bonkers - I do wonder how many sales that are currently under offer will stick if the stamp duty holiday ends and the prospect of paying ££££s more on stamp becomes a reality, just as the vaccine becomes available and people start returning to offices....

I have a family member who has almost finished extending and redeveloping a house in TW. It's very large (5 beds + annexe) and back at the start of the year, an agent estimated it was worth £800-850k.

He had it valued last week and they suggested an asking price of £1.2m.

@amicissimma it would appear so! 😆

We're in London and plan to stay forever, even though we could both work elsewhere. I would miss the buzz, the diversity and having so much stuff to do on my doorstep, not to mention it's actually a great place to raise kids. I wonder how many of those fleeing will end up rueing the day they left? The grass isn't always greener – we have friends who left a year ago whose near-teens are already bored senseless living in the middle of nowhere.

@kurtainwoz my DH was raised in London in the 1990s. We also bought in London fairly near to where he grew up, zone 3 north london.

We are 28 and 30, but the people we know who managed to even buy anything in london in the last few years had london based parents. Most people needed help whether through a gift or by letting kids stay in their houses for free, and that is easier when your parents own london property.

I think more people would wfh but I think that ambitious people would still want to work in the office. Humans are social animals and managers would prefer to promote people they know personally not just via email and a zoom call.

@JuliaJohnston

Interesting if it’s never. Are clients ok with zoom meetings over in person ones? I seriously doubt it; once the necessity has passed.

I agree as I saw it in our sector but don’t have insight into others

I think there will be an initial increase of people moving out, particularly those with families who want more outside space.

Assuming life does return to more like normal in the next 12 months or so though, I'm sure there will be a rush back to London for many people. Not necessarily the families but the young who are looking for new opportunities.

I love the countryside but there is nothing and nowhere that quite matches the buzz, the variety, the atmosphere and history that London has to offer. People are drawn there and as long as they feel safe again they will go back. Working at home has it's advantages but it can't provide the social side of after work drinks on the South Bank or dinner in Covent Garden followed by a fabulous West End show. People will want that again.

I have a family member who has almost finished extending and redeveloping a house in TW. It's very large (5 beds + annexe) and back at the start of the year, an agent estimated it was worth £800-850k.

He had it valued last week and they suggested an asking price of £1.2m.
That's fabulous for your family member, but would it really be of interest to many Londoners at that price?
I certainly wouldn't move to Tunbridge Wells for the sake of an extra bedroom without a considerable financial incentive (if I were to move at all, that is)

No. I can't see why anyone would want to move to where I live from London. They would miss the bright lights too much.

But people are always wanting to ditch the bright lights! Moving out of London to live somewhere quieter or more rural is hardly a new thing, even if Covid has increased it. I used to live in London. I don't miss the bright lights in the slightest up here in Cumbria!

Certainly I know the people working in banking & law are never looking at going back to pre covid.

Using words like 'never' on the basis of an 8 month experiment in a crisis situation seems foolhardy to me.