Londoners moving out to towns - AIBU

[Disgruntledtownie]

I have lived in the same town all my life - great community feel, independent shops etc.

During COVID, we had an absolute influx of people moving out from London which massively drove up prices so locals have had to move away and it’s really changed the whole town.

A lot of the Londoners were campaigning about getting a Pure Gym in the town - one opened, and now our local leisure centre has had to go into liquidation. This is where all the school kids learn to swim, all the teens hang out after school etc and it’s just gone.

An independent family owned shop that has been in our town for over 130 years has had to close as business has dropped.

In the last two years, Gails and a Joe & Juice have opened right next to independent coffee shops - there’s been massive queues outside Gail’s and everyone saying how good it is they can still get their Gail’s fix out of London. But it’s meant the independents have struggled and a few have had to shut.

I totally appreciate that times are tough and spiralling costs and overheads will have impacted these businesses but AIBU to think if you move out of London, you embrace the local shops etc and don’t just change the town into a mini London ??!! It’s just such a shame to see our local community disintegrating around us.

Sensio was a huge wasted opportunity and disappointment, I assume mismanagement. For the last decade the adult pool has freezing, the kids pool made my child sick every single time we went, usually with a vom bug. So we drove to Larkfield, Oxted or Tonbridge because Sevenoaks couldn’t be arsed to heat or clean their pool properly.

Went to one aerobics class there and didn’t go back, choosing instead to drive 30 mins to a class with better atmosphere (Sencio had somehow double booked the class and there were two teachers there constantly arguing throughout the class about who would get to use the hall!!) The toddler gym should have been fantastic given the size, but was filthy compared to eg Gymboree. All the staff seemed depressed / clueless. Roller disco way too loud.

Yes I’m sad it’s closing but very surprised it hasn’t happened before. And it’s got nothing to do with Londoners moving to Sevenoaks. Perhaps someone will buy it and actually run it properly.

Hoads closed because everyone started shopping elsewhere (ie online), it wasn’t caused by Londoners.

YABU.

DFL= Down From London

Every day's a school day!

I am from London- the south east bit, zone 4/5

In the village we live in a newbie took a smallholder to court over a cockerel. Too noisy in the morning. Cockerel went into a blackout shed, could still hear him apparently.

Another newbie complained to the council about animal droppings in the lanes. Cattle, horses, sheep. They took another neighbour to court over their dog who would lie in the lane on a hot summers day in the shade and growl when you told him to move his butt . Poor dog had an asbo placed on him.

There's very little cheap housing stock anywhere these days . So we need to rub along as best we can

We get the same in London. Newbies complained that the local community garden was setting their foxes on them!

They lean out of an upstairs window and shoot them around here. 🦊

People buying expensive new build flats next to nightclubs that have been there for 30 years and complaining about them and getting them shut down 😥

Yes but not HERE!!

How do you know the Londoners objected to the gym or didn’t go to the coffee shop specifically?
Or by ‘Londoners’ do you mean non white people?

McCarthy Stone did exactly that. Built while the night club was having a big refurb. Residents tried to get it shut down but were told to get over themselves.

I live in a cute ‘traditional’ village. People here mutter about the constant waves of Londoners who settle here for the 45 min commute to central London.

But, reading gravestones and memorials in our local church, I was amused to see that the majority of people who built that church in medieval times, and who funded it since, had come from London and settled here once they made a bit of money as a ‘clothier’ or ‘wool merchant’ etc. Money, and middle-aged people, have been rippling out from London to the rest of the country since Roman times. And young adults have been moving from the countryside to London for even longer than that.

Doesn’t make any sense to me. People can live wherever they choose. New people arriving should help local businesses unless they aren’t any good. People from London are just people and don’t share specific tastes or views. I live in London and have never set foot in Gail’s.

Well don’t worry about me adding to your woes. I’m a born and raised Londoner who loves my little London neighbourhood and has no interest in leaving. One neighbour is from Yorkshire, another from Devon and another from New York. They’re lovely and I welcome them all.

I don’t think you are looking at this the right way. It’s easy to always blame the new comers and outsiders for change. The fact is Londoners are helping the economy of these towns. They are bringing and spending money. They didn’t ask for these shops to close or the chains to open - it’s just a smart move from these companies knowing that Londoners will prefer them as they are familiar with them/ already loyal to the brand. Also don’t underestimate the power of the locals who are probably excited by all these new shops opening and going there instead of the local ones.

The town the OP is talking about is not a rural country town. It's prime commuter territory 25 mins from London Bridge and has been so for decades. It's a bit like complaining about Londoners moving to St Albans or Guildford. I think the COVId DFLs will have gone much further out, where they can get more for their money.

Online shopping exploded during covid. Many people carried on to this day. I carried on shopping just to get out of the house. Welcomed the break.

The thing is the cost of food, energy, fuel have risen and our income hasn't, so cutting back on the nice things has increased.

www.tripadvisor.co.uk/Restaurant_Review-g186338-d4473621-Reviews-GAIL_s_Bakery_King_s_Road-London_England.html

Mixed reviews for Gail's.

We've three lovely artisan bakeries in Conwy alone which is perhaps why we haven't seen them yet

uk.trustpilot.com/review/gailsbread.co.uk

You have to queue twice!! At Gail's. That's a mugs game

This has to be strangest threads on MN today. Some businesses struggle and other thrive. Must be a new phenomenon.

But hang on, this thread is about Sevenoaks. When has Sevenoaks ever been anything apart from a commuter town jam packed full of ‘Londoners’. Everyone works in London and it’s never been remotely affordable. Most of the ‘Londoners’ are actually children of families from the area who lived in London for a bit pre kids.

This is all true. Even ten years ago I used to take my toddler to the Tonbridge leisure centre because their facilities were so much nicer and cleaner. The pool in Sevenoaks has been a state for the 15 years I've known it. The cafe with little soft play cage was always a bit grim and I've never known it as a popular hang out for parents.

In our experience the shoe shop gave unreliable fittings, had little to no choice and had ridiculous mark up. For the last four or five years we've chosen to drive to an independent in West Malling rather than walk into town to visit that shop. Our podiatrist recommends somewhere in Maidstone. The shop closure has absolutely nothing to do with Londoners.

I'd add that I've always had a warm welcome at Gail's, whereas we were unceremoniously booted out of one of the local cafes after placing an order because they didn't fancy serving toddlers during a lunch hour, and the other popular independent coffee shop on the high street always seems very grumpy, forgets orders, clean up around you if they feel you're overstaying your welcome.

Totally agree with the OP on Joe and the Juice myself, but lots of teens seem to like it (probably the Sevenoaks School gang).

The London to Sevenoaks move is very common and not at all new. My parents moved from SE London to Sevenoaks in the 80s, as did quite a few of the people they knew at the time. My school friends have mostly returned to the area after a stint in London. Are we Londoners or locals?

Hoads in Sevenoaks shut down due to most people doing their shoe shopping online, this isn’t to do with Londoners moving there.

Sencio that ran sevenoaks leisure centre went into liquidation as it was run by a non for profit organisation. It will be taken over and open again by another organisation, quite likely GLL. Again, not down to Londoners moving there. All leisure centres are struggling because of the cost of heating right now.

Stop blaming “Londoners” for the world evolving

I think you'll find they do. Lots of posts that refer to the 'impoverished' north, where we are all inbred neanderthals who don't have electricity or running water because that's only a thing in London.

Londoners barely know they North exists.

That is just not true.

Absolute bollocks. The assumptions on this thread get more and more ridiculous

Many of us know fine well it exists, because we used to live there. Our money is also paying for a lot of it, which 'the northerners' conveniently forget.

We just try not to dwell on it all, because we managed to get away from all the reasons that we don't live there now.