Area gone to shit, feel forced to move 😪

[Runouttatown]

I've lived in the same London suburb all my life. Until just a few short years ago it was a very nice area, and we thought we'd likely stay for ever, perhaps downsizing when the DC left home. We've spent a lot of time and money improving and extending our home over the years and it's perfect for us, just the way we want it, so would not wish to leave it for a few years yet.

However, the area has been going downhill at an alarming rate over the last 3 or 4 years to the point that we find we now absolutely hate it and want to get out - overcrowded, horrendous traffic, driving & road rage, unpleasant, rude people, lots of crime and antisocial behaviour. HMOs springing up all over, including one at the end of the street, most of which contain single, foreign men, not families. We're overrun with food delivery bike riders (many of whom live in the HMOS) who congregate in the high street, leering at women & young girls and spit disgusting red tobacco on the pavement. The area looks increasingly run down, fly tipping and a general lack of care. It has long been fairly multi cultural (no problem with that at all) but we're now finding that as white british people we are fast becoming a minority, and frequently encounter people who cannot speak any English. I'm sure some will accuse me of being racist but I absolutely am not, I'm just sad at what has happened to our once lovely area and, no, I'm not blaming immigration for all of it, although it's clearly a factor.

I know many areas are the same but there are plenty that are not - I only have to compare our Community Facebook page which is full of posts complaining of the above issues to that of the area we're thinking of going to which is completely different.

We've accepted we now need to move several years before we are ready but I feel so sad and angry about it. Several friends have already moved and others are considering it for the same reasons. The DC are happy for us to move as they hate it too - one at uni, the other working & considering buying their own place, not round here!

This is nothing like the Huguenots. The total number of Huguenots who moved to London was equivalent to about 6% of the London population. It caused significant upheaval but ultimately it’s a proportion that can be absorbed and leave the resident culture intact.

Nowadays, 40% of Londoners were not born in Britain. That obviously doesn’t include second generation immigrants who may not yet have assimilated. You may not care but Londoners whose communities have disintegrated have the right to be pissed off. This is largely not the fault of migrants themselves but politicians who have utterly failed to deliver on their promises and the result of all this is Reform.

Why do you assume I don’t care and that I’m not a Londoner and don’t have a family here?

I am a Londoner and I can see the city change and grow, but that’s inevitable for a city, it can’t stay the same otherwise it stagnates.

700,000 Eastern European immigrants are on benefits but they never get mentioned on these threads, it’s always the brown people that are accused of ruining the country.

You seemed to be suggesting that it was a non-problem. Have I got that wrong?

Changing and growing is great, it’s the pace and scale of it that’s the problem. You’re saying that the alternative to the current situation is stagnation, but that’s a false dichotomy. You could have a steady gentle flow of migration that didn’t jeopardise the stability of the current culture. That’s what most people (entirely reasonably) want.

When I lived in north London I regularly witnessed Eastern European men pissing in the street in broad daylight. Never encountered Asians doing that

Make the change then. It's no excuse. You're literally supporting slave labour.

The changing nature of Britain and pretty much everything you have described here is what prompted us to pack up and leave the UK for good.

Where did you go? My family are starting to have similar thoughts

Yes, and only if you live in or know how some areas have descended into problems with different cultures, can you understand it.

Why else does everyone think Reform are so popular?

It’s because Farage is promising to stop the boats. That's it. 🤷‍♀️

You have misquoted the government's stats - they say "white ethnic group" not specifically "White British";

of people on Universal Credit in January 2025, 76.2% were from the white ethnic group. The Asian/Asian British ethnicity group accounts for 10.4%. The Black/African/Caribbean/Black British ethnicity group accounts for 6.0%. The Mixed/Multiple Ethnic groups accounts for 2.9%, while the Other ethnic group accounts for 4.4%

In addition there was a note of caution about the statistics, although admittedly they could be wrong in either direction;

Ethnicity statistics
Universal Credit claimants are asked to answer optional equality questions when making their claim.

In January 2025, 75.8% of Universal Credit claimants had provided information on their high-level ethnic group (5 options) or sub-group (18 options).
Therefore, Universal Credit ethnicity statistics should be treated with caution due to a degree of non-completion.