To question whether northerners are actually poorer than southerners ?

[Naegriafowlia]

As we know a lot of northerners seem to think all southerners are living like the Russian Romanov family pre murder and funds from the south should be directed up north because they are apparently so much poorer than us.

But is this even true? If you can buy a family home up there for 100k or less and the same size home costs 300-400k on average in the south. You already have a lot more disposable income. I know they say they get paid less, but Tesco (for example) pays the same every where and has branches everywhere. I know they also say there’s no good jobs there but where there’s people there’s schools and hospitals so you want us to believe there’s no teachers and doctors?

I know someone will say “move there then” personally I won’t be moving anywhere anytime soon as I started my family young (first born a few months after GCSEs) and my kids are all really settled in school and with friends.
Based on what I’ve heard from northerners they are more welcoming to people from countries on the other side of the planet than they are their fellow countrymen from 100 miles to the south.

Where you live is obviously the exception to the norm, northern houses on average are overwhelmingly cheaper than southern homes. I live in one of the cheapest parts of the south and a family home is still double the price of your average northern home. Three or even four times as much in other parts of the south

I don't think the house prices that poster describes are a massive exception to the norm. You are cherry picking the cheapest houses you can find in the North. Like I say, I live in a village in Yorkshire 2 miles from a market town. We have no amenities or buses. A three bed house here costs around £325,000. It is about supply and demand isn't it. People work remotely now, so can afford to move further North and push up demand.

Agreed. Family homes under £300k are becoming increasingly difficult to find and those that exist are in areas most people would prefer not to live - because of crime, antisocial behaviour, transport links and lack of social spaces such as cafes, restaurants and bars.

Areas with cheap housing are cheap for a reason and when people do move in to them and cause gentrification, the prices increase rapidly.

Living in the north is better all round. Better standard of living, friendlier people, better food, more space, no crime, no poverty, everyone helps everyone, everyone housed affordably, 3 holidays a year, great recreational and social interaction, goats, social harmony and income equality and great beer.
We just don't let anyone know about it to stop an influx of Moggs.
Sorry fellow Notherners for letting the cat out of the bag, but it's time to let people know, unfortunately.

😂 no crime and friendlier people

The truth should be known, you're right to publish this vital information.

I worked in Local Government where pay grades were set Nationally for my profession. The London 'Weighting allowance' no way made up for the difference in housing costs and other living costs. Of all those that left my uni course that was a professional qualification, so almost guaranteed a job, those that worked in the South had obviously smaller houses after 10 years working, seemed to be stressed with commuting and focused on schools etc. Whereas a move to Skipton or Ilkley gives a 50 minute commute to Leeds, A public Grammar school for both girls and boys so no fees, Safe community, house with garden, great primary schools and access to the Yorkshire Dales and Manchester Airport. Good rail links to Leeds and onwards. You can buy a house 2 years post qualification after a couple of years saving.
The North is great if you have a half decent job. If you don't, it's as depressing as anywhere with the same issues.

Its not even North and South is it? So many people seem to think everyone in London is rich.
Now I know that we have more opportunities in London that IS true. But we also have the highest rates of poverty in the country. Yet everyone seems to think if you live in London you MUST be rich.
Well to buy a 3 bed house in my (slightly grotty) part of South London would cost probably around £700k. My salary is £36k.
Not really affordable is it?

Agree about the mini London thing. In fact its kind of annoying yhat No 10 of the North is being relocated to Manchester. Why Manachester? Why not Leeds or Bradford, or Carlysle or ANYWHERE else that needs it more? AB wants to take jobs away from London to basically send them to the same place the Beeb located to. If its all about devolution and spreading the opportunities Why not ACTUALLY spread them.around??

Realistically it can't be Carlisle. It has to be another big city, somewhere with good transport links and also the necessary security clearance (even in a city the size of Manchester there was only one building that had it when Burnham took office). The less it feels like a hardship posting, the more likely it is to work. There is only so far that 'spreading out' is going to work, particularly if the idea is to try and make a sustainable change so the long term outcome is more like the BBC in GM than the ONS in Newport.

Why not Leeds is a question worth asking, though.

Yeah I used to live in canning Town. That most certainly wasn't rich.

Well yes obviously this is the same as London. Mix of huge rise in house prices and public sector pay freezes and subsequent pay rises not keeping up with inflation. We couldn’t afford a house in London even 10 years ago when we bought so we had to move out. The very average 3 bed terraced house in a reasonable London post code that I grew up in last sold for £1.6 million (unfortunately not by my parents). I doubt many public sector workers could afford to buy anywhere in London now.

that doesn’t change the fact that if you take two equally sized families in the same jobs earning the same amount, one in the south east and one in the north, the one in the north will have a much better lifestyle

London doesn't have the highest rates of poverty in the country. Of the top 10 most deprived postcodes, Jaywick is #1, 7 of the remaining 9 are in Blackpool and 1 in Rotherham. I think the other is Hastings.

Here is the map at local authority level according to the government. Looks like London has a couple of areas in the second to top decile.

Fair. The stat was quoting from is more nuanced. Sorry. I'll paste it as is

London has the highest rate of child poverty of any region in England when the cost of living is taken into account.

Thats from ChatGPT who is taking it from the Guardian

Have you actually listened to anything apart from fellow self pitying south eagerness have said on this thread? You don't seem very good at listening frankly. As I keep saying, it's the inequality of opportunity, facilities and investment in infrastructure that makes people unhappy. It's not just people in the north who have to live with this injustice - it's anywhere in the country outside of the corner of the country that is London and its immediate surroundings.

Wow, northerners are really living rent free in your head.

(and in their own cheap houses, apparently)

Seen the video about the northerner who frightens southerners because he speaks to them?
There is maybe some truth in it, but I know some friendly, polite Londoners who chat to anyone and everyone, and some fellow northerners who clutch their pearls if anyone expects them to interact with a human instead of a phone.

Cost wise, things are different, but not so different in terms of free uni/prescriptions etc, like in some places in the UK. House prices is probably the main one.
Places like parts of Blackpool/Liverpool are top for violence and deprivation, but they're right next to some lovely places where people actually leave doors unlocked, so it's not as simple as a north/south divide.

I just looked at some houses in Catford on Rightmove. The cheapest 3 bed house I saw was £650k!

Hackney is not that affordable at all, ex - council 3 bed house is cheapest £575.

I agree, this isn't the 1990s anymore! You can argue that the houses are comparable prices to parts of the North but the quality is not the same. As a Londoner born and bred, the edgey parts of London are now expensive with no change in the overall look of the area from 30 years ago hence small ex-council homes selling for £600. I think opportunities in the SE are much better though, particularly if you want to work in certain industries. I visited extended family in Yorkshire in the summer and was surprised how awful the trains are. Essentially, I think you need a car which presumably why many people who are rich in the North and Midlands have amazing cars. You just don't need a car in the same way in the SE. Obviously, I'm not referring to the cities in the North as much.

I grew up in the north but lived in South London / Surrey for 25yrs, and just returned to the North West where i’ve bought a brand new 3 bed detached for same cost as a 2 bed flat where I lived. I lose my London allowance but same job, works out £200 less take home per month. Did that £200 make up for extra costs of living in the south? Not a chance. Everything is cheaper here, something considerably.

You can't buy a 2 bed house in Clacton for 175k and yes it is a shit hole

Not any more.
There are multiple people telling you the price of houses in their northern town, village or city but you’re ignoring them.
Unless we all live in the same place - that one northern town with exceptionally high house prices 🤷‍♀️
There’s a pretty standard 3 bed for same near me up for £385k - tiny garden and no parking.

He's not relocating No 10 to the North, it's not moving. He's just said he will work from the North (only once a week) and be in London the rest.

As I said their town/village may be that way but there’s plenty of really cheap properties up there. Conversely in the south east no matter how bad a neighbourhood is the properties are all still expensive