London is a joke (moan)

DRP

Pixie5740 wrote: »

The migrant workers who come to the UK and live in absolute hovels with 8 sharing a tiny room, that's who will continue to do the lower paid jobs. It's horrible that slum landlords will take advantage of them and charge money for allowing them to live in dangerous conditions.

OP, you just need to cut your cloth accordingly. Look on the bright side, you can afford a studio, many working in London can't even afford that.

I recently saw a small flat for sale near me in Aberdeen (about 32 sq m) and I actually considered buying it because the current owners had used the space in such a clever way to really make the most of it. Not to mention that the more space you have, the more crap you're likely to buy to fill the space. Silver linings everywhere.

And when the OP sees the light and decides to move from London to improve his lifestyle (not to mention if he wants to start a family), then a small studi/flat in london will be very easy to sell and will make him a big profit.

fairy_lights

Im amazed that you thought you would be able to buy a two bedroom flat in London for £160-180k. I don't think you have realistic expectations.

dirty_magic

I think most people living in London on an average wage either have to accept renting forever or move. There's no other option unfortunately!

I'd never buy in London anyway because I'd hate to live in a studio flat and I'd hate to not have a garden. I just don't think the houses are worth what people pay. Who is actually buying the ex council tower blocks for close to £1m?!

Corelli

the London issue is indeed ridiculous. My daughter and her partner have had to move away as there is no way they can afford to live here in any degree of comfort. Ordinary people are being forced out, and as a poster above said the only people who will be doing the lower paid jobs are people who are living localy in squalor.

Having mentioned my daughter though, she has moved 100 miles away and isveryvery happy in the town she has now settled in. It is sad that she is so far away now, but we can't expect our children to be as close as it was for past generations.

ognum

fairy_lights wrote: »

Im amazed that you thought you would be able to buy a two bedroom flat in London for £160-180k. I don't think you have realistic expectations.

I just checked the city I live ( 45 mins train commute) on Rightmove, there are three one bedroom flats for sale at £180k or less and they are in very poor locations.

No two bedroom flats here either!

quidsy

Move 10 - 20 miles out & you will get a 1 - 2 bed flat & travel costs of a 170 a month. You cant afford to buy in London, it's that simple. I earn 60k a year & cant afford what I want in London either, this is why I live 15 miles out where I have the chance of a house, garden & drive.

Jon_B_2

fairy_lights wrote: »

Im amazed that you thought you would be able to buy a two bedroom flat in London for £160-180k. I don't think you have realistic expectations.

Damn straight. There aren't many new build 2 bed flats for less than 200k on the outskirts of Bristol, let alone London!!!

Cornucopia

ognum wrote: »

I just checked the city I live ( 45 mins train commute) on Rightmove, there are three one bedroom flats for sale at £180k or less and they are in very poor locations.

No two bedroom flats here either!

Prices vary - a lot.

I live about 60 mins from London, and you can buy a 3-bedroom House for £180k. We even have brand new 3-bed houses from about £195k. Go a bit further and add a 15 min drive onto the rail commute, and houses are £170k.

A two-bed flat in a nice location is £130-140k.

London is a booming economy in its own right, and there are simply too many people there to sustain a stable property market, with the constraints on supply that exist.

jjlandlord

Cornucopia wrote: »

I live about 60 mins from London, and you can buy a 3-bedroom House for £180k.

A 1 hour rail commute from London can get you very, very far... I think you can get to Northampton or Ipswich in that time.
So no doubt you can find cheap properties.

benjus

jjlandlord wrote: »

A 1 hour rail commute from London can get you very, very far... I think you can get to Northampton or Ipswich in that time.
So no doubt you can find cheap properties.

Two problems with that:

• When you get that far away the commuting costs become huge - think £400+/month.
• If you work near the London terminus station where the train from where you live arrives then the one hour commute is fine. But if it's not near any terminus stations or you change jobs, you could easily add another 30-60 minutes to the commute getting from the terminus to your job. If you live within the London travel zones you're more likely to have more flexibility in getting to central London.