What do you think London will be like in 10 years?

[kundalini88]

London feels like it has changed so much over the last 3 years, let alone the last 10+. Although there are a lot of great things about London, I have seen a lot of decline, some of it quite rapid- it's harder to get a GP, dentist, it's much more crowded, it's a lot more dirty and polluted, everything is much more expensive than even a few years ago, transport is less reliable, dirty and expensive, there seems to be a lot more crime and antisocial behaviour, a lot of the nice things about London have disappeared such as cheap music venues, quirky shops that had been in existence for years. Everything seems to be about making money rather than just existing for people to enjoy. I feel like it is a great place to live if you are rich and comfortable or have secure housing, but otherwise it's just a constant struggle. I'm just wondering what the next 10 years will bring? Do people think it will get better (possibly under a Labour Government) or decline more?

I agree with those talking about the Suburbs. I live in a dull bit of metroland which has become so much more vibrant since covid. Our high Street is brilliant for with a lovely variety of well priced shops. We are very lucky. Although the opticians is closing as rents are going up, so I hope it isn't destroyed. Our schools are all good too.

I have visited more of the other burbs too. Still work in town and Elizabeth Line is the absolute best thing ever. London is fab. It just takes a bit of patience and organisation. Although I'm planning a trip to the theatre and that is expensive!

Young families have definitely decreased in number in my area, which was once markedly child friendly. Dogs seem to have taken the place of children!

I'm probably being flippant but I suspect that the rich, who will be the only ones living in London , will struggle with 'staff.'

As it is, I don't know how hospital porters, refuse collectors, NHS admin workers, TAs, childminders and gardeners ( to name but a few of the essential workers) can afford to live and work in London.

They need a home and a life.

As long as London Boroughs continue to move low earners to Kent , Essex etc... then I'm not sure how London will survive.
I live in a large town in Kent.
The influx of low paid/ unemployed Londoners into our town has soared to the point of saturation.
London Boroughs are buying up huge numbers of the local new builds and moving their clients out.
I'd name the boroughs but I daren't.

The properties that these folk leave behind are being 'done up' in order to make vast profits in the councils' portfolios.

It's social engineering.

Honestly, I hope London sinks.
It's shat on low income earners, it's shat on middle income earners and it couldn't care less about it's schools, as so many rich Londoners go private anyway, as MN threads will testify.

As to the pp that mentioned Richmond, I hope that they realise that Richmond is an incredibly wealthy suburb that most people can only dream of.

London is becoming more gentrified by the day. I expect more suffering for the poor and the middle class. So they might move out and London becomes the city for working adults.

I've been in London since 1997.

I think more working class families than ever will be living in small flats like we do. More and more flats will be built. Houses for families are already a memory.

Transport for London will be privatised. It's already on a downward trajectory and despite the success of the Lizzy line the London Assembly will offload it. (Insider insight here)

I can't remember the last time I went to Zone 1 for shopping or leisure. We go to Bromley, mostly. I think the suburbs and urban areas will continue to support the rise of very local commerce. I think Zone 1 will be the preserve of visitors and the filthy rich.

Maybe electric cargo bikes will completely overtake the car? If the right incentives are made...

I want to leave. I want a house, not a flat, and a garden. I want to breathe! I'm done with the place.

I've lived in London for 35 years, mostly in zone 1, now in zone 2. I don't relate to most things in the OP tbh - I'm fortunate that my GP has gone back to normal and I don't know enough about other GPS. My dentist is private as our family gets dental insurance through DH's work and that works fine for us.

I'm not sure I've noticed it being more crowded or polluted than it was - it certainly is those things but I feel like it was always like that really. Public transport is much worse - a lot of bus services run less frequently and are unreliable (I often refuse to get a bus now despite needing to carry a buggy down tube steps) although I'm pretty happy with tube frequencies. The Overground is great although it's slow, the Elizabeth line is a pleasure to travel on.

We're fortunate to own our home and we really enjoy life here with our dc. I'm not interested in music venues (since we had dc we don't get out much) although there are plenty of good ones around us. I do most gift-type shopping online so no idea. But there are plenty of activities for families which are interesting and fun, some free, some paid for. We're out every weekend doing something new - the free museums and galleries, brilliant playgrounds, splash parks, free cinema screenings, city farms, festivals and family days. Lots of sports and leisure activities. Our council has really stepped up with improving leisure centres and parks lately, and in neighbouring areas too.

Quite a few primary schools around us are closing and merging, and there's a clear trend for families to move out of zone 1/2. But the streets, museums and attractions are still full of children when I walk around. And there still are plenty of primary schools left - but it will change so that your nearest one is 10 mins away rather than 5 mins. But still a bigger density than the suburbs or rurally. I do feel lucky that I've been able to continue living fairly centrally as it's so easy to get to things. But lots of people would consider where we live to be dirty and crime-ridden and be horrified at the idea of raising dc here.

Could it also be that you’re 10 years older? I used to live in London and then moved to another city, but I’m always impressed by its vibrancy when I visit.

Not sure if this is the wet you mean but with a tidal river, low lying land and sea level rise, wet is coming.

So which areas of London should we avoid? If in 10 years there’s a risk of flooding?

Like how Dubai is now.

I think London will continue to get shiny new public transport whikst the rest of the country has Stephensons Rocket.

I left 20 years ago but would move back in a heartbeat.

London's always changing, that's the point. My 86 year old mum used to roller skate through the Blackwall Tunnel and now marvels at the changes to Docklands. If you'd seen those parts even 40 years ago, you'd have never believed the utter shithole it was. In the 70's the river was just shitsoup, lined with nasty pubs and businesses that were a health and safety wet dream.

People have always moved out and new people move in.

I still can't see the actual point of having a mayor though.

London is always "too crowded" or "empty because everyone is leaving" according to threads on living there.

Ain’t that the truth?

The unique feel of different areas is being eroded by homogeneous high rise buildings and chain stores that you could find anywhere. They have pulled down horizontal slums and are creating huge swathes of vertical ones instead, which are ridiculously expensive for what they are, so are not solving the housing crisis

Also, loads of flats are bought just as investments and not lived in. I think something should be done about that but I’m not sure what can be done.

Damp. Flooding events will increase massively and it is likely that the Thames Barrier will be breached soon.

so which areas to avoid? @BCCoach

aren’t they doing new work on it to protect against flooding?

From the London Assembly website:

The Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, and Westminster City Council are today calling for stronger powers to crack down on empty homes, as shocking new analysis by City Hall reveals an estimated £20bn worth of property is sitting vacant across the capital.

The Mayor is calling it a scandal that there are an estimated 30,000 long-term empty homes across London. The highest concentration are in the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, where 1,600 empty properties would collectively be worth more than £2.2bn.

In light of these stark figures, the Mayor is calling on the Government to devolve the power to set higher rates of council tax on empty homes, including for mega-mansions in areas such as Westminster where council tax is not currently a deterrent to prevent people leaving their properties empty. The level of council tax for empty homes would be decided by local councils at whatever level they choose in order to make it an effective deterrent.

Dreamingbohemian thank you for that. It’s good to know something is being done about it.
However, how will it be enforced?

I think it will be better in 10 years.

There are different maps, this is one obviously a projection of the areas most vulnerable to severe flooding by 2030 (so not underwater all the time but much more vulnerable to floods)

I admit, I don't know. I imagine for properties owned by foreign investors, they will be upfront about the fact they don't live there because otherwise they would be resident in the UK for tax purposes?

Even more of a fucking dump.

This now is not the London I grew up in and that generations of my family grew up in.

It is a dirty cramped shithole and Sadiq has made things so much worse.

Hate the place

I admit, I don't know. I imagine for properties owned by foreign investors, they will be upfront about the fact they don't live there because otherwise they would be resident in the UK for tax purposes?

Good point about tax.

London already floods in places like Richmond & Putney. Nothing new. The Thames Barrier will be overwhelmed soon. I live on high ground at the moment. IMO they should stop paving over everything in sight, it might help. But, Capitalism.

Well 'dump' is subjective, isn't it?

I grew up in what remains what of the most deprived places in the country, and which still has one of the lowest average wages and high levels of poverty. It was and still is xenophobic (emphatic Brexit vote), insular and nosey, devoid of any sort of culture and lacks infrastructure and amenities to a woeful degree. Casual sexism, racism, homophobia is the norm.

Now I live in London where I earn a good living, use my free time constructively and have friends from all over the world. I know which one I'd call a fucking dump.