To be irritated by the Londoner exodus to my town?

[thesecondnamegame]

I've been priced out of my Greater Manchester town by the London diaspora. Anybody who knows the area will know which town I mean. My tatty council town centre terrace is worth 300k. A load of Londoners came up after the BBC moved to Manchester. Half the kids in my kid's school's parents are from London and they love to make sure you know that. House prices have become ridiculous and are in a different world to the rest of Greater Manchester. It's ridiculous as it used to be a very unremarkable market town (albiet with not much to it) and now it's gone all 'naice' and I'm having to move 10 miles away because it's reaching the surrounding towns and I simply cannot afford to live here and I want to buy a property. It annoys me, I keep imagining somebody who had a London salary and bought a house in London, sold it, and came up here and bought a house 3 times bigger for the same price as their smaller London home. It just seems like they cheated. There are no school places either, because a lot of the Londoner's chose this particular town for the schools. The catchments are bloody tiny, I know somebody who lives in a village about 4 miles away. The schools in this town are the closest schools. No school would take her child and she ended up having to home educate for months.

All my relatives who bought properties or private rented have had to leave, even those who went to uni and got great jobs.

@katy1213 I have already clarified this, they had to leave SO they could buy their first property.

Many in London have to do the same, it's a disgrace. But what about those who owned in London, came up here to buy a house twice the size in cash, push their kids into the grammar, and then go on about how much they've bought to the area? I've met people who actually go on about how great it is for the area that they've come up here.

There is a big difference between those who are genuinely priced out of London, and those who own a suitable property in London but see the opportunity to have a big McMansion up north so come flocking up. When lots of people do it, it inflates the area.

Also no one has mentioned landlords & 2nd homes. Many people move because their rent is way more than a mortgage but they can't afford a mortgage in their area.

@LoudestCat14

katy1213 The OP has been asked a few times whether she's going to take a stand and not sell her house to someone moving up from London but so far no response. Funny that.

I think she rents?

@thesecondnamegame

Thanks to everybody coming to inform me how lovely their London neighbours are [sceptical] My issue is with a very specific type of privileged person who sees the likes of my town as free fodder, I really do have nothing against you and your neighbours.

Why are you sceptical people can have nice neighbours? I have lovely neighbours and a lovely community. Within days of moving into my flat I was in a whatsapp group with others in the building, there’s a community garden and food sharing initiative in walking distance, only today there was an organised jumble sale in people’s front gardens along the street. The people here are a mix of all ages, races, and levels of income, from privileged yummy mummy types to Muslim families to council tenants, and everyone says hello. London is full of community and true diversity, I reckon several Londoners who’ve left for the regions will be sorely disappointed by all the suspicion and curtain twitching and unwillingness to form new friendships.

@LoudestCat14

I don't own a house and never have done, so uh, no. I'm scraping every penny I can together to get out of my damp infested hovel.

Happy?

There is a big difference between those who are genuinely priced out of London, and those who own a suitable property in London but see the opportunity to have a big McMansion up north so come flocking up.

What's a suitable property?

[quote Blueeyedgirl21]@Tealightsandd the people who have moved to the part of Manchester I’m from have made it less diverse. I went to school with a lot of Caribbean, Turkish and Sri Lankan kids. Now they are mostly white children from middle class families with parents who both went to university. The non-white children are normally from medical or dental families so very wealthy.[/quote]
So BME families only count as diverse if they are working class? If they are professionals they aren’t properly ethnic? That is outrageous!

[quote thesecondnamegame]@katy1213 I have already clarified this, they had to leave SO they could buy their first property.

Many in London have to do the same, it's a disgrace. But what about those who owned in London, came up here to buy a house twice the size in cash, push their kids into the grammar, and then go on about how much they've bought to the area? I've met people who actually go on about how great it is for the area that they've come up here.

There is a big difference between those who are genuinely priced out of London, and those who own a suitable property in London but see the opportunity to have a big McMansion up north so come flocking up. When lots of people do it, it inflates the area.[/quote]
Right, so you’ve met a few dickheads. I honestly don’t know anyone in London who fits this description, it certainly isn’t representative of the majority of Londoners or their financial status.

[quote thesecondnamegame]@Cadent

My house is horrendous with damp everywhere and the 300k is literally none existent because I don't own the house. So not sure why you felt the need for the sarcastic 'my heart bleeds'. I know full well many in London have the same issues, and I have absolutely nothing against those people.

Jobs are coming up north? Yeah and the people are coming up with the jobs to take them and they get a nice cushy big house to suit and can afford to all go to certain very specific towns. Those unemployed in the likes of Lancashire etc won't benefit from this at all. But we all need to be grateful here in the north that we are being saved, sorry.[/quote]
What I'm hearing is that middle class young single people who work in Manchester or the South Manchester Commuter Belt are now moving to some of the towns further out because they can't afford to buy/rent there anymore either. Its starting to have an impact further out - which will bring money and jobs to some of these less fashionable areas (and will push up prices there too in time). This may have positive and negative consequences. A proper transport infrustructive for the northwest would be the single greatest improvement as its something which is particularly driving people to buy in certain areas over others too.

One of the consequences of property being seen as an investment rather than a home is people are buying cheaper properties as buy to lets which also pushes up prices. And property is more attractive as an investment when interest rates are so low.

But y'know blame these 'londoners' for a governmental level lack of proper strategic infrustructure planning for the issue cos that gets a rise on MN.

We live in a globalising world OP so you’d better get used to it. As London house prices have been ridiculously inflated by overseas investors, common sense tells you that some people will be driven out. Some are thriving, some are surviving and some cannot survive here. Fact. Some may even have the audacity to move to Manchester.

Human migration (whether on a national or international scale) has been happening since the beginning of time. Nothing new. And no, stereotyping “incomers” from London is no different to stereotyping immigrants from elsewhere, including those from overseas. Read your posts, replace “Londoners” with any other demographic and I hope you can then begin to understand how you come across.

How does it affect the cachement areas with schools? Presumably before the Londoners bought the houses, there were other people living in them? The total number of people there can't have increased that much, unless there's a rash of quick builds going up.

I think you just don't like southerners. Sorry.
House prices are going up extortionately everywhere, especially in places that are nice to live and/or have decent jobs. It's sickening, I agree, but Londoners aren't wholly responsible.

people can move wherever the hell they want!

Exactly.
I've lived all over the UK - it's called pursuing employment. If you want to better your employment and living circumstances you often have to move. Can't imagine what a country this would be if people only lived, worked and died in the home town!

If people in their home towns want to keep the areas just for themselves, then they should sell only to locals or pass the property on to their children. They don't though - they sell to 'outsiders' for often huge profits and then they move to other peoples home towns!

@awaketoosoon

Well, obviously it's liveable and has enough space for your family. I expect that's not the answer I'm 'supposed' to give. A school mum I know has 1 DC and had a 3 bed in London that she owns. That's all I know about the house. She now goes on at the school gates about the lovely much bigger house she has now with 2 garages which she'd 'never have been able to afford in London'. She is not the only one, I know more personally. Many people are doing this in certain areas, and it's affecting house pricing greatly.

The problem isn’t with Londoners - it’s with the housing market in general. Interest rates are practically at zero. People building property empires, an emphasis on your house being your pension, etc etc. I feel very sorry for the young. I couldn’t afford the house I live in now. Yes I have benefitted but it’s not right and something has to give.

If the people who were moving were more distributed across the north and the country in general, it wouldn't be so bad.

As I've said, it's very specific areas which are suddenly becoming ridiculous.

@Libraryghost

The problem isn’t with Londoners - it’s with the housing market in general. Interest rates are practically at zero. People building property empires, an emphasis on your house being your pension, etc etc. I feel very sorry for the young. I couldn’t afford the house I live in now. Yes I have benefitted but it’s not right and something has to give.

Yes this.

And more than its not the fault of Londoners, it's that no one has suffered more than Londoners.

London is the capital of homelessness.

There is a big difference between those who are genuinely priced out of London, and those who own a suitable property in London but see the opportunity to have a big McMansion up north so come flocking up. When lots of people do it, it inflates the area.

But who are you to say they shouldn't be allowed to do that? And what constitutes a suitable property? I live in a three-bed terrace in London with a small garden, no private parking, drug deals going on in the park at the end of my road. By your reckoning I shouldn't be allowed to hanker after more space and a bigger garden for my DC, less crime and cleaner air, surrounding countryside etc, because I have a house already? Other PP are right. It's not Londoners per se you have an issue with, it's people you think are better off than you.

Two thirds of the UK's homeless families living in temporary accommodation are in London.

The schools are probably good op. If you live in a catchment area for a good school it drives the demand and the property prices up.

@Confusedandshaken not at all what I meant. I should have elaborated further, my apologies, but what I think the new demographic I mentioned signifies is a shift from working class families to a a different type of class. Class can be as much of an indication of privilege as race, especially when education disparities come in to play. You only have to study the 11+ entrance exams of Trafford to see where it comes into play. Schools like Altrincham Grammar are very ‘diverse’ in a non-white sense - but the family backgrounds of the students are incredibly privileged in other ways. Almost No one gets in without extensive expensive tutoring, and/or attendance at paid prep school. It’s basically a free private school for those who can afford to live in the area, where a 3 bed semi will be half a million pounds. Anyway I work in the field and am very keen on education equality and find a lot of the time that economic hardship affects kids the most regardless of ethnic background, which is why I feel strongly about the ‘ghetto-fication’ of schools and prefer the Scandi type approach of meritocracy. But I digress.

So if Londoners aren't allowed to move anywhere else, can their tax stay in London too? It's not as if it's not needed. What with all those homeless families and disabled individuals. London is the only region in the UK that pays out more than it takes. Yet it's the capital of homelessness.

@ArcheryAnnie

How does it affect the cachement areas with schools? Presumably before the Londoners bought the houses, there were other people living in them? The total number of people there can't have increased that much, unless there's a rash of quick builds going up.

Local authorities have a legal obligation to provide enough school places for the number of children living in the area. This is projected ahead of time by some years and includes calculating in the number of school places required from new builds. The issue is that parents don't want to send their kids to certain schools not that there is a shortage of school places in Trafford.

People have NEVER moved uniformly. They are always going to prefer to move to more desirable areas for work. Migration is ALWAYS uneven. They don't move because there is less people living in an area - there are less people wanting to live there FOR A REASON.

Well, obviously it's liveable and has enough space for your family.

So how much space is enough? 1 per child? I would like a bigger garden, off street parking. I'm less fussed about bedrooms but want more living space. On & the air pollution worries me.

@PolkadotsAndMoonbeams

I wonder whether the grammar schools in Urmston and Stretford have seen the same effect?

Or is it Altricham Grammar and south Manchester/Cheshire private schools if they don't get in?

Urmston has been rocketing over the past few months. Houses are going in 48 hours for approx 8% over asking.

To be fair it has the grammar schools, close proximity to motorway, good range of shops and bars on the high street, parks, train station etc…

But still. The prices now are just ridiculous.