I managed to save around £15K stamp duty. But, I pay £50K extra because of my mistake.

[JaniceEnglish]

I just brought a house in South East England, after we sell our apartment in London. I managed to save around £15K stamp duty. But, We pay £50K extra because of our mistake. We view the property online. After moved-in we found the roof leak. The boiler is not working well. The plumbers ask us to replace pipes in the wall as well. The pictures look lovely on the Zoopla. We don't have this issue with our apartment in London.

I feel regret now. And now, my company needs me to back to the office at least three days a week. And my husband needs to be back five days a week from September onward. The train fare is expensive.

We have a big garden. My husband asks me to do the gardening once a month because I can work from home two days a week, this makes me mad.

We might plan to move back to London and get a flat.

Does anyone fell into the same trap? Should I stay or move back to London.

Well it depends on whether your salary actually specifies London weighting, doesn’t it? We’re looking into moving and have considered this, we know we’ll lose the London weighting portion, which is fair. But for those whose contracts or businesses don’t specify a weighting, how can you determine what portion of your salary is “because London” and what portion is “because years of expertise and quality of work”?

@burritofan

Well it depends on whether your salary actually specifies London weighting, doesn’t it? We’re looking into moving and have considered this, we know we’ll lose the London weighting portion, which is fair. But for those whose contracts or businesses don’t specify a weighting, how can you determine what portion of your salary is “because London” and what portion is “because years of expertise and quality of work”?

Ours does

We have branches all over the country and clear salary grading based on level and location

You can look online and find out exactly how much more your London salary is compared to everyone else in other areas of the country.

We are waiting for the others offices to start challenging our wages if we no longer live or work there

It is why I got back to the London office as soon as I was allowed

Have you any friends or family you could discuss this with?
Did you talk to anyone before making such a huge decision?
Is it just the two of you?
You were very brave but also a bit reckless, I think you should talk to someone for advice before doing anything else.
If there is someone you can trust to ask for advice, ask them if it would make sense to cut your losses and move back to London now?
(the time and money spent on trains will take its toll on you both.)

Can you rent the house out? Could you rent in London?

Sorry you are going through this and not wanting to pile on with the criticisms, but ‘you thought the pandemic was going to last a few years’ did you mean the disease or the allowances that employers were making?
Businesses have taken a huge hit and some will be lucky to survive at all once all the supports are taken away.
From now on, I think you should be very cautious with your money until the picture becomes clearer. All the best.

Unless there London weighting actually specified (I appreciate some are) they they can't just bring wages in line with your closest office or other offices around the country.

Employers who are doing this could find that legally, they can't. And if it is, specified, and you decided to move or want to be permanently wfh and you didn't realise your wage will go down. Then that's your own problem.

Is it a necessity to live in London to receive the London weighting in jobs? I would have thought most jobs, couldnt specify where you live. Unless you need to be in the office in a certain amount of time, in an emergency and got paid extra for that. Again, a specified amount for living close.

The vast majority of the country are do not have a work place weighting. So I imagine this will only be a problem for those in London.

Of course they could always refuse wages rises for a good while, until you are in line with other areas of the country.

Op, the pandemic has almost been 2 years. You weren't wrong. But still a risk to love house Unless you have your new terms in writing. Both you and dh should have realised that.

[quote CrouchEndTiger12]Didn't seem to work

www.thisismoney.co.uk/money/mortgageshome/article-9806833/Half-moved-house-pandemic-regret-paying-much.html[/quote]
Interesting! I do think sales will remain high - or at least steady - for some time to come, as so many people have bought in haste.

We're pretty happy in our current house and had no plans to move, but even we had a bit of FOMO during lockdown.

**What I mean is - people buying in haste and then selling soon afterwards, as they can't manage the mortgage/garden/repair costs/hidden costs/commute/drastic change in lifestyle etc.

@Whiskycav

Unless there London weighting actually specified (I appreciate some are) they they can't just bring wages in line with your closest office or other offices around the country.

Employers who are doing this could find that legally, they can't. And if it is, specified, and you decided to move or want to be permanently wfh and you didn't realise your wage will go down. Then that's your own problem.

Is it a necessity to live in London to receive the London weighting in jobs? I would have thought most jobs, couldnt specify where you live. Unless you need to be in the office in a certain amount of time, in an emergency and got paid extra for that. Again, a specified amount for living close.

The vast majority of the country are do not have a work place weighting. So I imagine this will only be a problem for those in London.

Of course they could always refuse wages rises for a good while, until you are in line with other areas of the country.

Op, the pandemic has almost been 2 years. You weren't wrong. But still a risk to love house Unless you have your new terms in writing. Both you and dh should have realised that.

Just to say - you are completely wrong to say companies can't specify where you live. I have worked in and around London for 25 years and everywhere I have worked stipulates the office is the main place of work and we must be in commutable distance to it (think that is specified as no more than 1.5 hours away)

Agreed @flowerpootle. I turned down a job once because it specified living within 20 miles of its base.

Is it a necessity to live in London to receive the London weighting in jobs? I would have thought most jobs, couldn't specify where you live.

Regardless of whether the employer specifies where an employee has to live, they won't generally pay a London weighting to someone who works remotely and lives outside London. They're not fools!

You can look online and find out exactly how much more your London salary is compared to everyone else in other areas of the country.

London salaries are typically 35% higher than salaries in my area (one of the cheaper bits of the country). That's an average across various industries, but people who have moved here expecting to keep their London weighting while hardly ever travelling to their original base office are likely to get a shock when they realise the difference!

There's a reason houses are cheaper up here and it's because, on the whole, we earn a hell of a lot less.

@burritofan

Well it depends on whether your salary actually specifies London weighting, doesn’t it? We’re looking into moving and have considered this, we know we’ll lose the London weighting portion, which is fair. But for those whose contracts or businesses don’t specify a weighting, how can you determine what portion of your salary is “because London” and what portion is “because years of expertise and quality of work”?

Any national company can do this with ease. They will know what they pay people for that level of work in Newcastle or Manchester etc.

If your contract is changing (in your favour) to remove the requirement to attend your 'base office' in London, it can also change (in your employer's favour) to reflect the lower pay.

I did check this on Zoopla. The estimated price for my house is just £10K less than what I paid.

I'd be really cautious of that. Zoopla currently says my one-bed flat in the Midlands is worth circa £230k. Estate agents say around £190k. Still insane, but MASSIVELY different - and I'd hazard a guess that right now it's worth less than that, as it's a communal garden.

@TakeYourFinalPosition

I did check this on Zoopla. The estimated price for my house is just £10K less than what I paid.

I'd be really cautious of that. Zoopla currently says my one-bed flat in the Midlands is worth circa £230k. Estate agents say around £190k. Still insane, but MASSIVELY different - and I'd hazard a guess that right now it's worth less than that, as it's a communal garden.

Yes, and op paying over the odds in the first place will have screwed the algorithm they use.

Just to say - you are completely wrong to say companies can't specify where you live. I have worked in and around London for 25 years and everywhere I have worked stipulates the office is the main place of work and we must be in commutable distance to it (think that is specified as no more than 1.5 hours away)

Honestly, I am not following your post. You seem to have mixed issues.

I said most employers. Perhaps I am wrong in thinking that most employers and employees are not London based. That may be my mistake.

Its not something I have ever come across in 24 years of working, working for some of the biggest national and international companies based in the UK. But not based in London.

An employer can not stipulate where you live unless it's has good provable reasons. Which I can understand in London.

A company I worked for was taken to tribunal because they refuse a job to someone who lived (in their opinion) too far away and told her that. They ended up settling and paying her a (relatively) small amount. The legal advice they were given that was, if someone was willing to do the commute it wasn't for them to say it was too far. But this was a while ago, to be fair.

But that's why I said So I imagine this will only be a problem for those in London., which I imagine it will. You have worked in and around London, so it will have been an issue for you. Unless by around London, you mean the rest of England.

I asked if where you live is part of the weighting. So part for travelling into London, part for where you live. I didn't state anything.

Because again, if there nothing in your contract, but you travel into the office as you need to, they wouldn't be able to reduce your wage.

The job I turned down stipulated within 20 miles of Blackpool @Whiskycav. Just no!

@Blossomtoes

The job I turned down stipulated within 20 miles of Blackpool *@Whiskycav*. Just no!

For no reason at all?

Ok

Because they wanted to be able to drag the postholder in at a moment’s notice. Still not London.

I said most employers. Perhaps I am wrong in thinking that most employers and employees are not London based. That may be my mistake.

My employer isn't London based. I still have a base site specified in my contract and, unless otherwise agreed, I have to be prepared to work there. Which means living within commuting distance.

Because again, if there nothing in your contract, but you travel into the office as you need to, they wouldn't be able to reduce your wage.

People who have moved house because of the pandemic aren't moving to locations where they can commute into London as and when required (which might be 5 days a week if the employer needs it).

They are moving to (cheaper) locations much further away, and relying on being able to WFH for the vast majority of the time. They are putting themselves in a position where they cannot attend the London office base as often as needed, because the commute is too expensive, too long, or both.

Employers have a right to object to this.

That's the issue here - I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand.

I was also going to suggest renting, could you rent a studio or one bedroom? By the time you factor in stamp duty, legal fees, moving costs, etc it might be more economical to rent.

@JaniceEnglish it is very normal to regret buying a house once you are in, it's disruptive being in a different place. Change is horrible. Give yourself a breath to assess the situation. Try to write a list of pros and cons, you must have had strong reasons for wanting to move out of London.
You never know you may enjoy gardening
All the best

@Blossomtoes

Because they wanted to be able to drag the postholder in at a moment’s notice. Still not London.

So they had a business reason that could stand up to scrutiny.

So they had a business reason that could stand up to scrutiny.
That's a legitimate reason for any business.

@BeenAsFarAsMercyAndGrand

Because again, if there nothing in your contract, but you travel into the office as you need to, they wouldn't be able to reduce your wage.

People who have moved house because of the pandemic aren't moving to locations where they can commute into London as and when required (which might be 5 days a week if the employer needs it).

They are moving to (cheaper) locations much further away, and relying on being able to WFH for the vast majority of the time. They are putting themselves in a position where they cannot attend the London office base as often as needed, because the commute is too expensive, too long, or both.

Employers have a right to object to this.

That's the issue here - I'm not sure why it's so hard to understand.

I didn't say they don't have a right to object to people like the OP.

I pointed out that reducing your wage because you no longer live in a certain place, won't happen for most people. Because most people don't have a portion of their wage, ring fenced because of where the office is or where they need to live.

A small percentage of people may see a wage decrease. Most companies, that have a business reason to have you near work....Will be having people back.

Op and her dh was completely ridiculous to do what they did. And yes, employers can make you come back and if you have put yourself in a position to not get to work, that's your problem.

However, most people do not have a percentage of their wage that can simply be deducted because they moved.