I hate you Northerners.

drc

I'm in London too and its very depressing for people like me trying to get on the property ladder. I don't want to pay 250k for a pokey 2 bed flat (one bedroom is probably more like a closet) and I think London prices are crazy. But all my family are here and I have no clue about the rest of GB. The 'multiculturalism' is something I both love and hate about London and I think I'd miss it a lot if I left.

Hopefully with the demand for property in London slowing (because of all those financial jobs being lost in the City) the prices will eventually come down. I don't see how they can stay perpetually high here as they are just totally unaffordable unless you earn into the 100ks per year. It would be great if other cities in GB started gaining ground on London so that London is not the epicentre of the country in financial and employment terms. In the continent there seems to be a lot more equality between major cities so that someone who lives in say, Berlin, can live as nice a life (from a financial and cultural aspect), as someone living in Munich, even though its the capital.

artha

I'm from the North East and went to live/work in London for a few years in early twenties. After 6 months of living there I didn't know anyone but still enjoyed what the Capital has to offer in terms of culture, history, atmosphere etc. I loved it. After finding a social circle it was even better and I regretted having to leave in order to pursue further academic needs.

In my mind despite the increased costs I think you live in a great place

chrisandanne

We always pity Londoners...we can't understand the attraction, why should the houses there for ordinary people be so over inflated, it isn't fair, not everybody earns big wages.

Having said that if it's your home place and your family are there, that's where you will want to be. I had an aunty from London and they always had to be in London, they even went to Australia as ten pound poms, lasted about ten years but had to come back because she missed London.

Chris was brought up (from 9) in the Chalfonts and wouldn't go back there for a gold pig...not to mention we'd be living in a tent !!.

I would say move North, beautiful countryside, friendly people, vibrant cities and cheap, cheap houses. On the down side, low pay (for some), high unemployment and of course 'the weather'. A x

p.s. We take two holidays abroad a year one to the med and one long haul and also have a three bed 'holiday home' caravan on the east coast. Sorry not really bragging just pointing out the alternative 'lifestyle' to having a big millstone mortgage. A x

pps. We take the holidays because we can't bear the weather !!!. A

HelpWhereIcan

My mind was made up about 10 years ago when I visited my sister in Clapham for a weekend. Great time had by all, bit on the costly side for a night out and you sort of got the impression

"nice for a visit but would not want to live here."

The thing that clinched it for me was the fact that my wife and I (dinkys) were paying the same for our mortgage on a 3 bed semi as my sister (singlteon) was paying for her room share in a 3 bed flat above a curry house (which was v nice by the way).

My sister's London weighting (about £7500 I think) was the only thing that took her salary above mine. My wife was on about the same again.

My sister was paying a fortune for residents' parking. We had a drive, garage and garden.

My sister spent a min of 40 mins each way on the tube each day getting into work. I drove for 15 mins and got upset if someone from another company had nicked all the spaces closest to the door.

My sister had a well known common to walk in. I have the Yorkshire Wolds and the Yorks coast within a 30 mins drive.

etc etc

Yes London was/is vibrant, cosmopolitan and trend setting, but it is a 2.5 hour train ride away and my lower mortgage costs etc etc mean that it is quite easy to save up the £26.50 the return train journey costs if booked in advance.

That still leaves a little bit for spends and makes me feel better about the little less pa that I may be earning to benefit from the life I do.

wymondham

HelpWhereIcan wrote: »

My sister spent a min of 40 mins each way on the tube each day getting into work. I drove for 15 mins and got upset if someone from another company had nicked all the spaces closest to the door.

This is one thing that always facinates me. Some people spend hours each day traveling. They may well like this and it is necessary for them, but I see this as time you'll never get back and is a waste that could be used for much better purposes. I had a job where I travelled to North London each day from Norfolk and gladly gave it up and the pay cut for a better quality of life - I now travel 10 mins to work and I am far happier and contented.....

neverdespairgirl

wymondham wrote: »

I now travel 10 mins to work and I am far happier and contented.....

For both me and OH, Chambers is less than 5 minutes away on foot (different Chambers). That's very important to us.

HelpWhereIcan

drc wrote: »

I'm in London too and its very depressing for people like me trying to get on the property ladder. I don't want to pay 250k for a pokey 2 bed flat (one bedroom is probably more like a closet) and I think London prices are crazy.

£250k would get you a 4 bed detatched in a desireable area with good schools here. Go for a 'small' 4 bed detatched, sacrifice a bit of a garden, pay £280k and you would get an address in an 'affluent' village with a boutique and ladies who lunch lifestyle (if that's your thing - but you get the picture).

drc wrote: »

But all my family are here and I have no clue about the rest of GB.

That's the great thing about trains and cars - getting to visit the family is relatively easy on our small island. My cousins in Canada laugh when we moan about the 3 hour drive to London - that's a day out to them.

After all, how often do families really see eachother more than a few times a month these days?

drc wrote: »

The 'multiculturalism' is something I both love and hate about London and I think I'd miss it a lot if I left.

You may be surprised at how muticultural the rest of Britain is. No we don't have Ethiopian pastry stores but I think most people would agree that places like Leeds, Manchester etc have large immigrant communities. You can always visit the areas you would miss (and probably complain about at times now).

drc wrote: »

It would be great if other cities in GB started gaining ground on London so that London is not the epicentre of the country in financial and employment terms. In the continent there seems to be a lot more equality between major cities so that someone who lives in say, Berlin, can live as nice a life (from a financial and cultural aspect), as someone living in Munich, even though its the capital.

That's where a visit to a regional centre like Manchester, Leeds, Birmingham, Newcastle etc may surprise you.

A friend of mine graduated, went to London, loved it then hated it but would always say "there's no real work for me up here" when we would encourage him to come back oop north.

It was not 'till he actually started to look that he found the opportunities for a Commercial lawyer were better in the 'provinces' than he thought. Earns a little less now but apparantly made full partner much quicker than he would have done in an equivalent London based practice.

Of 'our group' who graduated, about half are in London, half are up here.

Purely in nominal money terms the London lot probably earn a higher wage (probably about £60 - 70k compared to £50 ish) but we have more homeowners and all have houses while all but one of the London homeowners have flats.

What surprised everyone was when a drunken evening revealed who earned the most - £250k for one of the guys based in Leeds. 2 in London earned £150k ish but the rest of us were within about 10k as above.

You never know the truth until you actually look.

I remember when the DSS moved to the Kremlin in Leeds. There were hundreds of jobs created in Leeds, some due to southerners refusing to relocate. Their loss IMO

... having said that - stay where you are you lot. I like my little backwater as it is! :whistle:

Northern_girl_2

I moved to London for a while from Newcastle and it does offer a wealth of cultural/social acitivites that most other places can't match. I decided that I would rather visit than live there so moved back up north.

Returning to Newcastle meant I could by a flat and have a better quality of life. There are still plenty of things to do and I still visit London quite often.

The downside is that the choice of jobs is miniscule. You can wait a year to find something that you want to apply for whereas in London I would check the jobsites daily and there would usually be something to apply for. I've just checked the stats and at 25 I am already earning in the top 90% quartile for average earnings in the NE. It may well be that to develop my career further that I have to consider a move back to the SE for a couple of years.

Swings and round abouts really.

wymondham

Northern_girl wrote: »

I moved to London for a while from Newcastle and it does offer a wealth of cultural/social acitivites that most other places can't match. I decided that I would rather visit than live there so moved back up north.

Returning to Newcastle meant I could by a flat and have a better quality of life. There are still plenty of things to do and I still visit London quite often.

The downside is that the choice of jobs is miniscule. You can wait a year to find something that you want to apply for whereas in London I would check the jobsites daily and there would usually be something to apply for. I've just checked the stats and at 25 I am already earning in the top 90% quartile for average earnings in the NE. It may well be that to develop my career further that I have to consider a move back to the SE for a couple of years.

Swings and round abouts really.

We like visiting London, but recently the rail fares have gone through the roof and it's no longer a viable day out. :rolleyes:

BARGAINHUNTER!

I can see both sides to this, having lived down south all my life until 12 years ago when I moved 'oop north'

Admitedly, I didn't live in London, but a 20 minute train ride outside of it, so wasn't paying silly London prices for housing, but when we moved up North we managed to sell our 3 bed semi and buy a huge 5 bed victorian town house for the same money, and we could have stretched ourselves further. In fact, when looking at housing up here, we joked that we would be able to buy a whole street of 2 up 2 downs for the price we were selling our 3 bed semi for - well, maybe not a whole street, but you get the picture! (looking back - we wish we had!!) Anyway, at the time of selling our house and buying up here, there was a noticable difference in house prices. However, we managed to pick a very desirable part of the North to live in, and prices up here have risen more than if we had stayed in the house down south. However, if I had to sell this house now, there is no way that I could buy the same house down south, and if I had to live in London I suppose i'd only be able to afford a flat in a not very nice area!

Anyway, we used to have a horrendous journey into work and back each day when down south, now it only takes me 10-15 mins each way by car. The difference to our quality of life is huge - yes, I probably have the same bills (food, heating council tax etc) but the plus side is that I have a relatively low mortgage which enables me to have a better quality of life. People are definately more friendly up here - the only downside for me is that my family are still down south, but its only 4 hours in the car or a 2 hour train ride, not the other side of the world!

If you have a job where it really does not make much difference where in the country you work I would say go for it - it could be the best move you ever made. However, I think for certain types of jobs the big money can only really be made in London. I know for a fact that in my job, I wouldn't make much more if I did the same job in London, and that extra would be swallowed up by the extra mortgage payments.