How do working class ppl manage to afford to live in central London

[Qae]

Just that really. Housing in London so so ridiculously expensive. We were slightly lucky because we purchased our house before prices went mad, but I don’t understand how working class families, particularly families who haven’t been settled in London for decades, can afford to move and love in central London.

Two words. Social housing!

@Wilkolampshade Pretty sure they don't claim benefits as generally they're aiming to fly under the radar. Their main aim is to send as much money home as possible.

My hunch is that the black economy is massively underestimated; certainly I think a lot of MNetters are very naive as to what goes on in this country. The impression is that everyone dutifully pays their taxes like them so how can councils possibly be struggling.

I wouldn't be surprised if the population for example is 15m higher than the official total. Everywhere is so crowded. You feel it on the roads, in the shops, no way has it "only" gone up from 58m to 68m the past 25 years.

I don't know how it works with immigrants but I don't see why a working one would not be able to claim top up UC. I thought the issue was with JSA and unemployment benefits which are assessed differently.

Social housing and benefits.

A recent migrant won’t be entitled to social housing or UC. So it is relevant if OP is asking how they afford it.

She could have asked “how do people with low paying jobs who have no recourse to public funds afford to live in zone one?” And the short answer to that is that they don’t.

What so many other people have said - social housing (lots of it in central London) and living with various generations of their families. It’s not difficult to understand if you’ve spent any time walking around the city centre.