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Original poster

Those of you who live in London and ....

92 replies

UnquietDad · 23/02/2007 11:59

... DON'T have a massive ffff-off Rachel Johnson salary/Caroline Phillips walnut shelves - where do you live? How do you do it? Do you all rent?

There must be cleaners, roadsweepers, dinner-ladies etc. living in London. They can't all commute in. And yet even a teacher would struggle to get a house, from what I gather.

It sounds impossible to move there - you have to have bought 10-15 years ago and sit tight. Will things ever get back to "normal"?

OP posts:
Wheelybug · 23/02/2007 13:02

moved out to zone 4 (south west london, fringes of surrey - near Jura I think ?!) to buy (had been renting in Putney) a while ago and fixed up, moved on, fixed up, moved on so now have managed a good size house (complete with good size mortgage of course !).

Wheelybug · 23/02/2007 13:03

mind you we do slightly regret (I try NOT to regret anything but..) not buying the 1 bedroom flat in Putney we almost did for the sake of a 2 bedroom where we are now as we probably would have done even better on property but there you go...

Original poster
UnquietDad · 23/02/2007 13:08

It always amazes me how many writers "live in London" according to their biogs, given what a crap-paid job it is.

Maybe that's the publicists giving the Bromley South/ Essex address a bit of spin...

OP posts:
edam · 23/02/2007 13:10

There are some sh*t areas of London, though, UQ. And people rent too. I wouldn't live in some of the places my friends do. Too old to see high crime as just part of the price you pay for living in the most exciting city in Europe.

sunnywong · 23/02/2007 13:11

true, true
but right at the moment I bloody miss it

southeastastra · 23/02/2007 13:11

it's crazy isn't it! we brought our first home (2 bed new build flat) in north london for £50k in 1991

Spidermama · 23/02/2007 13:12

I bought a house in London back in '97 for, wait for it, £67 thousand. It was a very small house in Brixton. I sold it five years later for £210 thousand and bought a house in Brighton. It sold again recently for £320.

I was priced out of London as soon as I got pregnant with number 3. I don't think many people in London can afford to have more than two kids without a big compromise on space.

I'm still priced out and couldn't move back into London even if I wanted to. But I visit a lot and work there so I get my fix.

edam · 23/02/2007 13:14

Blimey Spider, our one bed in Hammersmith cost £66k in 1990. Had no idea Brixton was so reasonable.

Spidermama · 23/02/2007 13:15

My London friends who stuck it out there and bought houses in, say, Sydenham or Forest Hill because the prices were lower, are upset with all the middle class families who fled and left them to it. They think we should have all stuck it out together.

I love London, but I really wouldn't want to bring kids up there. Not in the areas I could afford anyway.

Now if I could just find a five bedroom detarched house in Hamstead or Wimbledon for about 400 thou' then I would consider it.

Spidermama · 23/02/2007 13:16

edam it was a very small house. I agree though, we were lucky.

superloopy · 23/02/2007 13:16

It would have cost £30k to buy our flat in 1997.

breadgirl · 23/02/2007 13:17

As soon as i got my first full time job (in 1997) i bought a two bed flat. It had to be near a tube station. I could have stretched it more and bought a 3 bed house, but i was v young and thought 'no need'.
Luckily, we made good profit on the flat and could afford to get the 3 bed semi we're in now, but mortgage is more than double.

superloopy · 23/02/2007 13:20

London is a fab place if you are young, single and have money to spend.

It's just to hard with a family unless you have loads of money.

I grew up in rural Australia and really want my children to have that chance too.

I just feel that I have been here and done all that I wanted now it's time to move on to the next adventure. I can always come back and visit!!

Azure · 23/02/2007 13:21

I got onto the property ladder 20 years ago when I bought a flat with my sister (our parents paid the deposit). I'm now onto my 5th property (my Dh's 4th and our 2nd together) and it's only because we have made money on places that we can afford to still be here (not that we've made anything like Spidermama on a single property - fantastic result). Having said that, following our move to a semi in a decent area 3 years ago we have an enormous mortgage which is a real millstone around our necks and has meant that I couldn't give up work once our second child was born.

pollyanna · 23/02/2007 13:22

(spidermama, double that and add a bit for Hampstead)

We bought really early - in 1994 - in a bit of London that was up and coming. We had a few good sales, but were only really able to buy a house (a very small house) because dh was earning a good salary. In Hampstead, the people who did normal jobs, lived in flats, rented or lived in housing association or council flats. I knew a few "normal" people who inherited the house from their parents.

Most of the teachers at ds and dd1s school didn't live anywhere near Hampstead. Even now, dh is a well paid solicitor, we couldn't afford a 4 bed house and garden (tiny) in Hampstead or Kentish Town. (and for this and lots of other reasons moved out of London last summer)>

Azure · 23/02/2007 13:22

Oh, and the schools are pretty rubbish.

batters · 23/02/2007 13:24

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

Spidermama · 23/02/2007 13:31

batters I agree there are some fantastic things about bringing up children in Lobdon.

Bugsy2 · 23/02/2007 13:32

Live in london borough of Wandsworth & feel very grateful that I got on the property ladder in 1992 before prices went through the roof.
Wandsworth is often referred to as nappy valley so there are loads of facilities for children & lots of good state schools too.
There is also a considerable amount of "affordable" housing being built at the moment, with partial buy/rent schemes so that lower paid people can get a foot on the ladder.

Booboobedoo · 23/02/2007 13:32

DH bought a studio flat in St Albans 14 years ago which rocketed, and I had a bit of inheritance (lots of rellies died at the same time ), so we had a fair-sized deposit.

We also have a whopping mortgage. (Luckily, DH has been promoted as I'm self-employed and PG).

Moving out to Surrey end of next year, for the same reasons as Spidermama (same area).

I agree that London can be a great place to bring up kids, but not the bit I live in - terrifying gang/gun-culture.

sunnywong · 23/02/2007 13:33

awwww, so no more 1 O clock club on H Heat then Pollyanna?

pollyanna · 23/02/2007 13:35

I loved living in London. It was only the house prices and the secondary education that led me to move out. Like Spidermama, if I could get a house for £400k and a wonderful free secondary school for the dcs I would have stayed, pollution, crime etc etc and all.

I have flu this week and am feeling very emotional and sorry for myself, and really miss my old house and life and Hampstead Heath atm

pollyanna · 23/02/2007 13:37

no suzy - I really miss Hampstead Heath, I had such happy memories from there. I saw a thread which mentioned a music group I used to go to and I nearly cried! (as I said I have got flu and am sobbing at everything!).

sunnywong · 23/02/2007 13:37

well, those are two things as rare as hen's teeth in NW3

shall we have a chat about the lido and parliement hill fields and kenwood?
I went to see Notes on a Scandal this week and cheered at the scene shot in Archway Road

how are the kids?

superloopy · 23/02/2007 13:41

The secondary school 2 streets away from me is one of the first to issue stab vests to its students.

I know of at least 4 shootings within a 1 mile radius of our flat in the past 6 months.

This is also 'dog shit on the footpath' central.

I don't know any of our neighbours as we don't have any languages in common. I know this because I can hear most of them through the walls.

I am ready to head south!! I need sunshine and the beach

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