Why do people live in London?

[Waahaawoowoo]

This thread is inspired by a thread where people where explaining how a £100k salary doesn't go far in London. Examples were given of mortgages costing £25k pa. (This is my salary). Childcare bills for 2 kids costing £40k. Our joint salary is £55k pa.

I live in NE Wales. Our house costs us £12k pa for a 3 bedroom semi. Wraparound Childcare used to cost a maximum of £12k pa. But we no longer pay due to age of kids and me WFH. I cannot get my head around DH and I being significantly better off than a couple who earn double what we do.

The logical answer to me would be to move from London. So why do people stay? Is it family? The type of work you do? I'm curious more than anything about what keeps people there when they could possibly have a better standard of living elsewhere.

I agree!

I'm still recovering from last weekend's warehouse expedition.

I've been here for seven years and I still feel like I wake up and go to work in my favourite funfair every day!

Another good thing is the variety of quirky shops, not just because it more diverse but because it is more affluent there are shops selling handmade Danish toys, beautiful handmade vegan bags independents bookshops etc. I think in mid size towns and cities it's bland because chains have taken over and indies can't afford to operate because the affluent clientele isn't there and the overheads of actually running a shop are huge.

Richmond is perfect!
Lovely walks, yet central London is just a tube ride away.
Would only want to live in a “Nice” part of London though.
Definitely not inner city.

I grew up on the commuter belt of London but moved here for work - there are so many more opportunities, especially in the creative sector.

The issue we have now is commuter towns are not too far off out zone 3 houses, but the train costs are astronomical. We are looking at £900 a month for DH and I to move out, but the houses are not cheaper. So why would we move to a town, with added transport time, for the same cost? I am 21 minutes from stepping out into Covent Garden. There are no jobs in our industry in those areas.

Just came on to say pretty much this!

we stay because I have all my friends here. I have moved around a lot and really don’t want to start again to make new friends all over again.
but your right 100k really doesn’t go far in london. Specially if you have kids and paying childcare.

I guess the simple answer is ' why wouldn't you live in London'
Its very small minded of the OP to presume that where she lives or her way of life is something other people would want.
I would rather live in a shoebox in London than a 3 bed semi in a suburban north wales town...literally could ask the OP ' why do you live in N Wales ?'

but their priorities are different to mine...and over and over again the 'londonites' say its access to theatre/art/diverse cultures/wonderful food scene/free stuff/people and a buzz that makes them love living in London.
Those things are clearly not important to the OP who values 3 bedrooms and cheap standard of living and N Wales ....why does it have to be so difficult to just accept people are different and like/want different things ?

A few of my friends have moved from London to the south coast recently, covid has meant there are now far more wfh jobs that are London based but you don't have to physically be in an office to do them. I think it's brilliant, my job is technically based in London but I live in the North West, my equivalent lives in Central London with a teeny uplift on our salary. Her reason for staying is her family are there and even though she's a professional in her 30s she lives with her parents, they bought their house in the 70s/80s, she'd never in a million years be able to afford to buy a similar house in that location on our salary.

Lots of my friend's (who have just moved from London) lived there from straight out of uni until nearly 40, they stayed so long because they loved it. Their London lives were vibrant and exciting, vs mine that in comparison is probably pretty boring (I'm a countryside lover not a city girl so have completely different likes/wants). They loved the lifestyle and could afford to live there, so stayed. They all had the attitude they'd rather live in a tiny house in a vibrant location, than a huge house (which they could easily afford) in a dull location. It's a lifestyle choice for many.

Because some people like city life?

If I spend more than 2 days in the countryside I come out in hives 😂
I also find the views on family roles a bit more old fashioned in more remote areas. Couldn't be doing with that for one minute.

Nope, not for me. I like free museums, world food, great music and 24 hour shop on my doorstep 🥳
And one thing I really love about London (grew up there but don't live there) is the busy-ness. Everyone getting SHIT DONE. Living life 🤘

job security, if you lose one it's easier to get another one as so many are accessible. When children arrive, you want the continuity of keeping them at the same school and you develop friendships and the really great aspects of living in London etc
There are negatives too, but all depends on your personal priorities.

I love it here, but money definitely helps. Many of us, including me, talk of gallery and museum memberships. That does not come cheap. When buying, lots of people are priced out of ‘nicer’ areas. Even ‘normal’ restaurants can be pricey.

Our transport is great, and people of all incomes are attracted here. But some of the stuff is out of the reach of many on lower incomes still. Like in many capital cities I guess.

It's a different country to the rest of the UK. London has more in common with New York / Paris / Berlin than it does with, for example, Rhyl.

This doesn't apply to most people on the thread who made property decisions some years ago, I would have thought?
I accept that perhaps London is too much for some people who just want less of a sensory overload and fewer options for work, shops, leisure and schools to feel totally in control of their lives and environment.

You can never master it all in London because it is always changing and there is simply too much of it and Google maps is always going to be a necessity! Some of us love that, others would find it bewildering

Born here, grew up here. All my family is here. My job is here. Can earn more here......

I don't live in London(yet) but I'd jump at the opportunity to move there.

There's little to no diversity here (NE) and most people here are so ignorant and tone deaf, sometimes I wonder if they even realize some of the things they do or say is racist 😕

We visited London last year around the time of the queen's jubilee and I found everyone to be really nice/polite. We didn't know our way around public transport so we relied on asking for directions and everyone we asked were so eager to help. You don't really find that over here. Most of the time people ignore you and avoid making eye contact 😂

Our buggy's wheel got caught in the gap whilst coming out of the underground and there were about 3 or 4 people coming to our rescue. The diversity, multi-cultural experiences - just so refreshing.

If we could afford it, we'd moved yesterday.

i moved years ago from NE England to London for my first job. I applied only to London commercial firms and that was because they do interesting work and the pay can be quite high. We have always lived in outer London suburbs. Then we were tied to schools here and even now I have two last children still at home who live here, work from home 2 days a week from here, can commute on the tube to London from here.

Why do I stay now or would I once the children leave home? Lots of reasons. You get used to an area. I have a 200 acre wood opposite the house, on a private road, horses go by - it just seems a nice bit of outer London to be in.

However childcare and house prices have certainly always been much more expensive here so there are pros and cons and I spent a lot of time in rural Northumberland as a child brought up in Newcastle and know all about how lovely some of those other areas are. My older son lives in Oxfordshire which is great. Another adult child is living in the country outside London too as you can work from home mostly in office jobs 2 days a week now.

When children arrive, you want the continuity of keeping them at the same school

But, you would get that anywhere. I'm not sure what living in London has to do with it.

I live borders of London, work is hour door to door.
I access the cultural side 2 or 3 times a month.Even walk from tube to work I love looking in the windows of all the little galleries.
I'm 60 do not far off retirement and think about moving away, then think of all that I will miss and wouldn't move.

Affordability has dramatically worsened in the last decade. I feel like a boiled frog, priced out now really, but facing the loss of 20 years of friendships and roots. It's not that easy to upend everything.

Actually, there are some 3-18 schools in London 😂

London is brilliant

Wow.

I’ve never heard anyone say they were bored of living in London. It is hands down the best city I have ever been to. There’s only so many times you can walk round your local town centre but you could walk round London every day for a year and still be surprised.

I live in NE Wales. Our house costs us £12k pa for a 3 bedroom semi. Wraparound Childcare used to cost a maximum of £12k pa. But we no longer pay due to age of kids and me WFH. I cannot get my head around DH and I being significantly better off than a couple who earn double what we do.

You are better off financially and have a bigger house than your London counterparts but you have to live in North Wales to achieve that. It all depends on what you want from everyday life - the choice is e.g. Rhyl & Prestatyn or one of the best cities in the world on your doorstep.

I don't know why you can't get your head around that!