Preparation for mass exodus of poor from London

[SkippyjonJones]

www.guardian.co.uk/politics/2010/oct/24/exodus-poor-families-from-london

Sorry, I committed the Mumsnet Crime of not reading the thread. Ignore!

I cycle 7 miles to work. Not too bad.

Perhaps if landlords can no longer charge huge rents but they themselves have huge mortgages to pay there will be a flood of properties on the market and more people will be able to buy. House prices are at the root of most social ills and something needs to be done.

I am not denying that this is going to be hard, my family have lost their home in this process so we are not untouched. But if it pas off for future generations it may be a price worth paying.

It's ok unprune

I to moved for reasons related to ds3 needs and for dv reasons and am loathe to move again and disrupt my other dc

fsmail 7 miles is doable if your fit and well I often walk to the shop here to save money thaw round trip of 4 miles

But think lot people will struggle with new caps even at 7 miles from where I live and that's not in London

Why would you not want to live in a society that protects you if the shit hits the fan (e.g. global recession)? I don't get it.

Notting Hill hasn't always been posh. Neither has Chelsea for that matter. These places have changed in a few generations, but pockets of the original communities remain. If people stay in communities, they can get support from family and friends (apparently some people call this kind of thing 'the Big Society').

Concentration of jobs in London has meant house prices have increased and 'gentrification' has spread, but should that really mean that everybody else has to get booted out?

I have cycled 7 miles to work to get to my job. However, unfortunately, 7 miles from London isn't far enough away to find affordable housing, so that wouldn't do me much good if I were working in a low paid job.

Now if only they hadn't sold all the council houses...

"I'm also aware that rents are being pushed up by buy-to-letters maximising their rental incomes because 'the government will pay' rents that private tenants can't aspire to."

Do you have any evidence of this?

I am a landlord in London, and I'm sorry to say that along with most other landlords in the area I simply won't consider HB tennants (because of the time it takes to process the claim).

There's more money to be made in the profesional market.

And before you jump on me, I didn't buy to let! I'm renting my flat out while I study (and rent) in another town.

merry mouse your right

I live 30 minutes by train from London and affordable housing is a big issue here private rented is on average £300 a month abov ethe new 30% caps

yes i had that problem had to make sure i had another months rent in my account becuas ethe Hb was going to take 6 weeks and no landlord wants to wait for his rent

And then you have to factor in the cost of commuting

Yes Riven there forgetting that the outlying commutiable areas are already full of commuters in good paid jobs and meank £35 k plus jobs .I live in commuter belt and the rents here while not on par with London are still a lot

and how far out do you go before becomes to expensive to commute

Luckily mine is reasonable die to the fact there's s breakdown yard out the back and train crossing very close by anywhere else even 20O yards up the road my house would be nearly double the rent

"Now if only they hadn't sold all the council houses..."

London boroughs have the highest proportion of council homes left in the country. There are lots of estates around Chelsea. Most of the families living in those homes have incomes of under £17k, so it's fair to say the poorest will be remaining there (they can't afford to move anywhere else).

Most families being hit with LHA/benefit caps won't be the very poorest, they will be those who rent privately so aren't in as much need. Statistically they're often the young professional families who can't quite make it on the housing ladder. Only a very small %age of those in private lets claim HB because most landlords prefer not to let to HB tenants.

It is not about people just choosing popular and expensive areas for the heck of it, while the worthy get on their bikes and trudge through the sludge of the suburbs to make ends meet... I live in very central London. There are some large estates here. Many low paid and unemployed people live on them. Some of them don't give a monkey's that they live on the doorstep of amazing cultural institutions, parks, top restaurants, designer boutiques etc and all the other things that characterise the centre of a world city. They never venture across the road to those posh bits, which are the reason why it is expensive and desirable. They live here because they have family here, because they or they relatives have lived here for some time, or because the council housed them here. This image of people just choosing to go and live in some lovely area (though usually in a shithole in a lovely area) just for the heck of it (and to annoy other people who are condemned to outer Dullsville) is so stoooopid.

Yup though ones that in them now will be protected it's the ones that if luckly to get one some point in the future. Who going to get caught on that

if I were to move from London back to my home town where i haven't lived for twenty three years then yes my rent would be lower but the annual season ticket for the commute is about #5000.

There is a certain irony that I orginally moved to London for study then better work prospects. My job is here.

Like another poster when I split from exh I wanted to keep stability for the dcs and also be relatively close to work and them should I need to get back home quickly.

I earn a relatively good income but still get a small amount of hb per month. I haven't checked in detail but don't think the cap will affect me.

I am constantly on the lookout for cheaper property to rent but there isn't much around. Have also considered moving to a large 2bed and me using the lounge as my bedroom.

Interesting article here

One thing that doesn't seem to have been discussed on here yet is that council houses "for life" will also end for new tenants, with their entitlement assessed at regular intervals.

What do people think of this idea?

Same old Tories. I lived in Hastings in the early 90s and I seem to remember a similar policy by the previous Tory Government whereby Hastings Council was paid to take people on benefits from the London Boroughs. They were put up in grim b and bs in St Leonards and Hastings. I suppose Ian Duncan Smith thinks they should all get on a bus back into London to look for work.

teandcke

yes i can sort of see the sense in the end of tennacy for life , though do wonder how long the new teenacys will be for , if short term people will not want to spend money doing them up of no more security than in privated rented

And if there reassed and said they now need smaller house what happens if theres not one in not one in area they live will people be up rooted

Or in my case right now according to council i need at least 4 bedrooms and if i ever get one there going to need spend fair bit of money to make it suitable for ds3 alterations downstairs bathroom etc

Then what happens when my other dc leave home or by there accounts i no longer need a4 bed will they then have to spend even more money making anothe rhouse suitable for ds3

I think everyone should watch Panorama on this very topic right now - it's about shitearse landlords taking advantage of people on hb