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?

@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.

I agree. This WFH concept is only temporary for many employees but I don't think some employees realise this yet. Once the worst of pandemic is over, there is likely to be a day of reckoning amongst some companies wanting their employees back in the workplace.

I live abroad and people are always coming and going where we live too. It’s a melting pot of cultures and nationalities so that doesn’t surprise me but yes it is sad to see friends leave. London can be compared equally except on a bigger scale. I grew up in London but we left when I was 17 and I haven’t lived there since. Some of my family members are still there but many of my friends from school have moved away from London. It’s pretty normal I would assume. Especially with the extortionate house prices in London. People can get so much more for their money elsewhere!

@ThePlantsitter

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.

I agree. We're grandparents who brought our own kids up in London and there was always a certain type of person who gradually moved out, usually ending up somewhere in Surrey. I think that the current trend is simply a speeding up of moving for people who would eventually have moved in any case. We've lived elsewhere since our DC left home but are now back in London again and one of our DS's is moving out - sad for us but he feels he wants a detached house and doesn't like London state secondary schools. I think he and his family will miss London as they have always lived here. I agree with others too that WFH (which many parents love) is unlikely to be a permanent feature for many of them, whatever they may think now. Moving back may not be a financial option which means that they will be stuck with a long and expensive commute. And WFH certainly isn't great, long-term, for single parents who may easily become isolated.

It’s the way london is .. people move out when kids get to be 8/9/10 ..then others fill the gap .. it’s an evolving city

I left London to live in Spain. Miss it a lot. Wish I'd never moved. I loved living there.

I’m one of the 700,000 who left London (West) for Bucks last October. I always loved living and working in London. But last year was a big eye opener / lockdown 1. Selfish selfish people in shops refusing to wear masks, people not adhering to social distancing. I felt quite miserable as a result. And wanted to feel the community again.

I’m now fortunate to live on the river, in the heart of a market town. My 22 year old in Fulham is also considering leaving ! London has lost something and I it may indeed be my age. It just doesn’t dazzle as it once did for me ... stay well everyone x

I would never move out of London. I like the diversity and the mindset of most of the people I meet. I like the range of things to do and the hustle and bustle. But you are being a bit unreasonable to begrudge people following their dreams.

I understand the compulsion to leave London...a wonderful place to visit, but wouldn't like to live there with children. However, the other side of the coin - the huge swathes of countryside in the SE being developed to provide houses for Londoners. I assure you, us locals can't afford those houses! So I am torn.....

I'm a little confused...do you have the idea that people are moving out of London purely to inconvenience your family and hurt members of it? I assure you that they are not. They are looking for a different life-style. You are satisfied and happy living in London, they are not. SO...when the unhappy people move out, those who are thrilled at the idea of living in London will move in, and everyone will be just peachy.

Very naive and premature for people to think they will get London salaries indefinitely to WFH in other parts of the country. Fortunately, I love living in London and it is no bad thing that people who hate living here are leaving.

London has so much to offer children.
I don’t get why people move away.

I know my children wouldn’t have thanked me if we had moved to the countryside.

So where's good? Where shall I go? What's a good evening out in London? I want to experience it. Easy to say it's on me but I'm with friends so it's on them really if they live in the city and aren't giving a good experience.

What's 'good'? I can easily name 30 good restaurants and places to go, however whether they'd suit your tastes is a completely different matter.

It is on you. If your friends suggest somewhere, look it up. The reviews will tell you if you have to queue or not. Or you tell them you don't want a place you have to queue. Or you do some research and find a restaurant yourself. Plenty of websites where you can ask including MN.

We were the first of friends to move out 5 years ago. Since then they've almost all followed. The exceptions are a lawyer couple who could afford a big house and work all the time and have no kids yet.

I think it’s going to be like that for a while. Once my youngest (13) leaves school I’m leaving London (well actually just into Surrey) too for my native North Wales. I can buy a detached with garden & garage for 250k max. I’ll be fairly well off up north compared to being relatively poor in Surrey. I will come and visit and stay in a hotel so still get to enjoy London but with more money in my back pocket. I guess people move to London for work but now work is more flexible they’ve rethought their plan. Why not, unless you have family in London it makes sense to lesvs

@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.

I think this too! I work for a very large tech firm... you all know it and use it! and we have been people in the office this week. I am not referring to our essential workers. This is our non essential or rather the ones that were working from home for the past year. The plan of of return to work plan went out before the Easter break with people being allowed back in from the 6th April....

Interesting thread. I’ve lived in London suburbs all my life.

Agree with @indi0 that London is huge and diverse and each area has its own character.

I love living where I do. We live in a cul de sac and have a wonderful community. I know all my neighbours, we have an annual street party, there is a mix of ethnicities and cultures and we all get on well. There is always someone organising a mobile coffee van or ice cream van visit.

Completely disagree with the notion that London is dirty and congested. There are some beautiful parks and open spaces, just a few examples - Regents Park (and open air theatre), Hampstead Heath, Highgate Woods, Kensington Gardens.

We love the theatre and its great having the West End accessible easily by tube. So much going on, concerts, comedy, cinemas.

I wouldn’t want to live any further in than we do though, I like having the Hertfordshire countryside on hand. Best of both worlds.

We are among the "mass exodus" because we have spent a year cooped up in the human equivalent of a rabbit hutch working off our laps with a toddler in the background. Both of us can now work remotely so why would we stay? We're moving to a four bedroom house. Hoping not to get a chilly reception from disgruntled locals - I certainly won't be moaning about the Waitrose! I live in Morrisons land at the moment

I can understand that it's hard saying goodbye to people but I am sure you can understand their reasons. It's just a phase of flux while the housing market goes bonkers. Things will settle down over the summer.

I live in a small rural town, there does seem to be lots of Londoners moving here and loving it. Lockdown in a small flat without outdoor space is very different to lockdown in a big house with a large garden, which is what these outgoing Londoners can afford. Can’t say I blame them and it’ll help the local economy.

@Bythemillpond

London has so much to offer children. I don’t get why people move away.

I know my children wouldn’t have thanked me if we had moved to the countryside.

It's not just London or the countryside lol I mean fair due thats kind of how I view Paris versus the rest of France but I know it's an unfair and inaccurate view. I live in the North West between 2 major cities and we are absolutely not bored. There are loads of things to do for kids and personally I love it. Even during lockdown we've managed to keep busy. For me it's perfect and I say that as a born and bred Parisian. I like my reasonably priced 4 bedroom house in a quiet little town with a fab primary school. I like having fantastic walks on our doorsteps. And I like being able to access big cities for activities etc. London is also only 2hours away by train (and Paris similarly accessible, by plane).

It's not just London or the countryside lol

There does seem to be this idea that there is London or the countryside which is just white people, no arts, no parks, no museums, no shops and nothing to do.

It's London, new people are acoming!

It's one of the joys of London.

@KatherineJaneway

So where's good? Where shall I go? What's a good evening out in London? I want to experience it. Easy to say it's on me but I'm with friends so it's on them really if they live in the city and aren't giving a good experience.

What's 'good'? I can easily name 30 good restaurants and places to go, however whether they'd suit your tastes is a completely different matter.

It is on you. If your friends suggest somewhere, look it up. The reviews will tell you if you have to queue or not. Or you tell them you don't want a place you have to queue. Or you do some research and find a restaurant yourself. Plenty of websites where you can ask including MN.

What are your favourite five restaurants and good places to go out of those 30?

@BeagleEagle personally I love The Ledbury restaurant

Things may ease as lots of companies will review wfh and some colleagues want to work from the office.
Fingers crossed your son keeps some mates there. My DD saw her 3 good mates leave our horrid south east town 7 years ago. 1 went to Nigeria the others to Kent. It does still affect her.... She's 14 now.

We are leaving with enormously heavy hearts. I love london and will certainly return once the kids fly the nest. It’s a needs must move for us but it is the hardest decision I have ever made. London feels like home and I always heave a sigh of relief when I return despite having been raised in a really idyllic rural location. You are never the odd one out in london and there is no need to adhere to a norm. I love that.