Anyone else disillusioned with life in London/The South East?

dx052

I was born and being living in London for quiet a long time (40 odd years to be precise) & with the cost of living & house prices etc I am feeling there must be a better way to have a better quality of life in this country. I can remember when a One Bed Flat in South West London would cost you 65K which is what it was worth IMHO but todays prices are a joke. I just think London and the South East is so over populated & the way the salaries these days your not that much better of in London. (its great if your making 40K but anywhere is if you are) Their used to be a time when you salary felt like one & you had a bit left over but not anymore, if your making basic money especially with rent prices, tube/train travel its tuff. I have seen some lovely places in the UK with much lower populations, better surroundings, cheaper rents etc etc. Lets say you make £20k in London and for the same job 18K in Birmingham when you factor in your costs stresses etc who is better of?

BitterAndTwisted

I'm not sure the salary differential is as small as you think but I'd love to be proven wrong. Usually, where house-prices and rents are lower jobs are much harder to find.

London has always been an expensive city but I do understand what you're saying. As a young school-leaver I rented in Kew Gardens and Chiswick and I know for certain that I couldn't afford any flat or house-share in those areas now.

dx052

Those are two very nice areas, I would hate to think the price of those would be. (one bed flat 1K/M)

slosher

We are born and bred Londoners and have recently moved to Cornwall as we also hated London for all the reasons that you have said, yes there is less work here and pay is also less, but I have to say we love it and have a much better quality of life, so it works for us, I would not move back to London.

Accountant_Kerry

i live in hertfordshire, earn over £50k and still can't afford a decent house where i live and am seriously thinking of taking a pay cut and moving away, maybe norfolk.

<sebb>

I do get a bit down about the cost of houses in London, but for me it's worth it. I simply love living in London and could never see myself moving back to Scotland where I grew up. I love the fact that everything is on your doorstep and I love that it's busy and there are people everywhere. Everyone's idea of quality of life is different I guess.

sonastin

I've never lived in London but from visiting friends, it doesn't feel like there is anything on the doorstep. It always seems like such a mission, huge cost and forever and a day to get anywhere in London!

Jowo_2

<sebb> wrote: »

I do get a bit down about the cost of houses in London, but for me it's worth it. I simply love living in London and could never see myself moving back to Scotland where I grew up. I love the fact that everything is on your doorstep and I love that it's busy and there are people everywhere. Everyone's idea of quality of life is different I guess.

I bailed out in the other direction and enjoy living in Glasgow where it has all the amenities of a big city, including excellent pubs, cafes, restaurants, shopping and arts infrastructure.

But it has less of the nuisances, like high property prices and expensive, packed public transport.

You can get a large 2 bedroom flat with period features for £120k a couple of miles from the city centre. I can get a seat most times during rush hour. My train travel costs less than £10 per week.

Unlike London where I have to book days in advance to make plans with friends, I can be more spontaneous as meeting up doesn't involve travelling an hour to see them.

craigpauli

I havent gone there yet I dont KNOW!

hazyjo

I'm 20-odd mins away from the centre in East London (by train). I work in the City in a fab building, and meet a lot of my friends in Central London. Hubby and I go out there lots too.

I suppose if someone's a bit of a home-bod and doesn't go out in London a lot socially or culturally, there's not much point in living near to town. Depends what you like, I guess.

You can be within half an hour of London yet feel you're a million miles away so, if living centrally doesn't appeal, it's very easy to commute and live somewhere far leafier and quieter.

I can remember a two bed period flat costing me (literally!) £40k in Greenwich - but wouldn't expect it to ever get down to that level now! Some of it's expensive, but then so's the desirable places elsewhere in the country. Just look at some of the coastal towns or desirable areas near places like Manchester. Not much difference to London prices, tbh. It's all about demand...

I think you're way out on salaries. If I worked local, I'd be lucky to earn a third of what I do in town (and would probably be doing an awful lot more to earn my money)! For the sake of 20 mins on a train, I know where I'd rather work!

The City's okay - pretty civilised with some very quiet backstreets. Couldn't work somewhere like Oxford Street! That really would drive me insane!

Jx

Doozergirl

I was born in London too. And lived there until I was 25. And now I live not so far from Birmingham and I can hit Selfridges in 30 minutes

People who work in London are incredibly concerned with losing money when they move out of London but in answer to your specific question, I have absolutely no doubt that the person earning £18k in Birmingham is doing a lot better than the person on £20k in London. The differential in housing costs is so vast that I think £18k almost puts you at the 'poor' end of the scale in London where you can be comfortable in probably anywhere outside the SE. People put a lot of importance on a few thousand pounds in earnings but tax and NI eat at least a 1/3 of that wage whereas rents and house prices are truly double.

I do not own one regret for moving out of London. We see our friends, we go there regularly. But when you step away, especially when you've grown up with up it, you see it for what it really is - fabulous for those who can afford to live in the good bits a stone's throw from town, but a disadvantage for most others. And even when you live in a very expensive good bit, you can feel quite easily intimidated by people who have the freedom of public transport and choose to intimidate!

People say there aren't as many jobs, but there aren't as many people either. I live in an area with one of the highest employment rates in the country, I believe topped only by Westminster who do quite well by having quite a low ratio of housing:employment space, iyswim.

I could go on all day and night, but if you are brave enough to attempt moving away for even a short period of time, you'll miss it for a bit, but you'll also see how good it can be. Especially if you lucky enough to be able to transfer equity from a London house. I think that being a Londoner and fighting that fight stands you in really good stead for getting a job anywhere. If you can hack the pace there, you can definitely hack the pace outside of it. Your work rate will be higher than most

Most people get to the point where they have children and want to enjoy them and the house they're paying for. That's the point where the bright lights start being replaced by other things when it comes to being genuinely happy.