Fed up with everyone leaving London

[Arlington45]

My partner and I are both from London, both sets of parents are in fairly near areas to us. We have no intention of leaving London.

But so many people are. My son (6) keeps having to say goodbye to school friends. Is this going to mess him up, having no sense of security with friends sticking around? I hope at some point it will settle down but at the moment it feels like a mass exodus.

I don't feel pissed off with the people leaving, I get it. But I do feel fed up. AIBU?

Yanbu. I’m in the SW and dealing with the opposite at the moment, a total influx of people from London and other large cities. It seems like there’s a huge shift in the way people are choosing to live atm. I’m sure it will settle down soon, particularly if employers are going to want workers back in the office.

Thank the government for ever rising house prices.

Seems premature to me. Employers are talking a good game at the minute, but I hear a lot of chatter in private about wanting people back in the office.

I think we'll end up with a bit more flexibility, but office-based employment isn't dead yet.

Honestly it always was a feature of bringing kids up in London. I'm know it's a torrent of people just now but it will settle down to the normal slow seepage again I'm sure.

DP and I are both from London and our parents are in London. We have no intention of leaving but a lot of our friends are talking about moving in the next couple of years. I think a lot of people have been stuck in flats for the past year and are a bit fed up! It'll be sad if they move but I can understand why they want to move.

I think people move more in general these days. I'm not in London but two of my children have gone through primary school and about half the class are not the original children they started with.

People move to towns and villages for schools with a sense of security with the same schoolmates all the way through. It's not the be all and end all, and is a trade-off with other things. People like living in London because there is change and flux and (in non-covid times) a certain pace of life that they prefer to what can feel like stagnation elsewhere. Your DC is unlikely to be scarred by what will seem to be normal to him and may will thrive because of having to be adaptable. But if he's a type who needs a different vibe then you might have to leave London too. YANBU to feel fed-up if your friends and DC's friends are leaving and you miss them, but there are many valid reasons to leave London, especially at the moment, so YABU to expect anything different. I've always felt like if you don't need to be in London - either practically or psychologically - then it doesn't make sense to stay. It's a kind of madness that makes us pay so much for often intangible benefits. If others are over it, let them go. Your DC might move away themselves in time...

London schools always have had tons of movement . One of my friends had a child about 15th on a waiting list for a place at a school and there was so much movement he ended up getting a space about three week into term and the school said that was normal

Personally I'm pissed off with whinging londoners in the supermarket, not distancing and loudly proclaiming there's no decent deli in town, they don't have some fancy cut of beef or a particularly expensive bottle of wine and that our Waitrose isn't as good. Sorry if you don't like it go back to London! Not to mention the group of runners whose leader shouts "coming through" and expects you to get out of the way, they only seem to be here on long weekends, the same time as when the car parks for the development are so much fuller than normal .... hmm nobody is meant to be going to their second homes!

There's always been a high turnover of children in London schools due to the rental market being bigger, people changing jobs, small catchment areas, changes to travel arrangements, preferred after school options etc.

I think you get high turnover of children in cities, and especially in London. All capital cities have a certain amount of transient population (expats coming and going for jobs for example). And people have often moved out the capital as kids get a bit older.

Personally, I can't say I blame them. London is overcrowded, ridiculously expensive and generally pretty unpleasant in my experience. Every time I go there, I cant wait to leave.

There has always been movement in London schools but it has massively ramped up.
DS had 2 leave his class last summer, and 5 will be going between now and this summer. All moving out of London.
I teach in a London primary and we are concerned about our decreasing class sizes. Most of our year groups now have capacity - that means we're getting less money. We're rated outstanding, normally we are full with a waiting list. Other local schools are also experiencing the same.

As soon as I can I’m off too. I bloody hate it. Lived here since I was 8 . 40 bloody years of grime and crap .
Each to their own though , glad you like it . Others love it too. I’m just over it

indigenous???

all the reasons to live in London aren't there at the moment, so residents are just left with the crappy bits. Hopefully the good bits will return.

I didn't have a choice...my industry collapsed due to Covid so I couldn't afford to stay...I imagine others will have experienced the same.

I'm from London and it makes me so happy!

@Dissimilitude

Seems premature to me. Employers are talking a good game at the minute, but I hear a lot of chatter in private about wanting people back in the office.

I think we'll end up with a bit more flexibility, but office-based employment isn't dead yet.

Yeah I'm wanting a bigger house, but not really bothering looking for anything too big until I know if I need the space. I would love to keep wfh forever, I don't need to be in the office, but I imagine they will change their minds at some point because they can't face it changing and not seeing bums on seats.

I can see this back firing for a lot of people. Lots moved up here to bloody scotland from London. What are they going to do when told they are wanted back down there again? Hope they kept some money in a savings account to buy another house.

We (born & bread Londoners) moved out last summer. And the majority of our friendship circle are also moving out.

The school DC used to attend sent an email out saying they had multiple places available in every year group for the first time ever. It was a v oversubscribed school.

I do plan to move back once DC are all grown up, as my parents are still in the city and I miss being close by. But I could never have imagined how much better is on the mind out of London. I'd hate to still be there, like the last hanger on at a party

This is the Governments fault. The only people who can afford to live in London are the very rich and those who get their rent paid for by benefits or have a council home. Everyone else has to leave if they want any kind of security.

Like PP said, certain amount of movement in a huge city is perfectly natural. And you can't blame people for wanting a bigger house, quieter streets and a garden when they have kids.

I've toyed with the idea of a bigger place by the sea, but I'm put off by the insular mindset and sometimes right down racist attitudes (I'm foreign). Plus I love London. But the idea of a huge garden for my kid to roam around in is tempting.

Yeah, we seem to be getting lot moving from London/south east up near where I am in the North.

While I cant blame them in one sense, (you can get infinitely more for your money house wise)

It is annoying that it is making sizing up or starting off a house harder and the prices are being pushed up rapidly.

This happened to me as the childen grew up. It was frustrating and depressing and led to an increased sense of isolation as a single parent. Any time I met another mother I clicked with she'd move away sooner or later. Finally I have another single mum friend who is also not going anywhere, but yeah - it's a factor of city life. Lots of people moving 'back home' to be near their parents etc. You just have to suck it up, I'm afraid. But YANBU.