23, back from travelling, and can't afford a house in London

Herzlos

westernpromise wrote: »

If there were a good reason to live in Liverpool, Burnley or Sheffield, people would do so.

... they do.

Why is London so great anyway? Because it's expensive or is there an actual reason?

StevieJ

Herzlos wrote: »

... they do.

Why is London so great anyway? Because it's expensive or is there an actual reason?

Was in London over the weekend for the cup semi-final. It has some great visitor attractions these days, some old some new. We visited the British Museum again, wow what a fantastic place. Central London is somewhat scruffy though, always has the effect of making the northern City that I live in feel fresh and clean when I return home.

westernpromise

Herzlos wrote: »

... they do.

Why is London so great anyway? Because it's expensive or is there an actual reason?

Why would you expect to be able to understand what's great about London? That's like saying you don't understand gravity, hence it doesn't exist. The implication is that you'd be able to understand an accurate explanation of gravity if it were given to you, which is a baseless assumption.

This is the same. The market values London higher than anywhere else in the country; if you don't understand why it does so, how would an explanation that you also don't understand help you?

Herzlos

No, I'm saying that removing the tautology that London is great because it's expensive. Why would someone value it?

I've visited London a few times and value it as a destination, but I don't see the attraction of living there, and it seems that neither do you.

Why would I spend £1m to live there instead of Berlin, for instance?

Malthusian

westernpromise wrote: »

This is known as the Argument From Incredulity:
https://rationalwiki.org/wiki/Argument_from_incredulity
- you don't understand something, therefore it can't be right.

No, that was satire. Jokes aren't supposed to be logically sound, and logical fallacies do not apply.

Your entire argument, on the other hand, is argument to the masses. Lots of people choose to live in London, therefore London must be great. Even more people choose to live in Beijing, therefore Beijing must be even better than London. A billion parasites live on a dog's turd, therefore the dog's turd must be the greatest place to live of all.

economic

Malthusian wrote: »

No, that was satire. Jokes aren't supposed to be logically sound, and logical fallacies do not apply.

Your entire argument, on the other hand, is argument to the masses. Lots of people choose to live in London, therefore London must be great. Even more people choose to live in Beijing, therefore Beijing must be even better than London. A billion parasites live on a dog's turd, therefore the dog's turd must be the greatest place to live of all.

It’s not about the number of people. It’s about the price properties go for. Since property prices in London are so much more then the rest of the uk it means the demand for properties is higher thus London is more desirable to live in. No one is saying anything about quality of life etc. It’s simply what is more desirable and that is reflected in the price.

kabayiri

economic wrote: »

It’s not about the number of people. It’s about the price properties go for. Since property prices in London are so much more then the rest of the uk it means the demand for properties is higher thus London is more desirable to live in. No one is saying anything about quality of life etc. It’s simply what is more desirable and that is reflected in the price.

There's a lot of rental property in London though.

If I owned a place I rented out in London, and those renting made it profitable for me, does that mean I find the property desirable?

It would be about financial return for me, and a good supply of potential tenants. Not much to do with desire.

I think we would need to divvy up the reasons people choose London, and decide if we are focussing on quality of life, or financial reward. Otherwise it's just too wide a topic.

economic

kabayiri wrote: »

There's a lot of rental property in London though.

If I owned a place I rented out in London, and those renting made it profitable for me, does that mean I find the property desirable?

It would be about financial return for me, and a good supply of potential tenants. Not much to do with desire.

I think we would need to divvy up the reasons people choose London, and decide if we are focussing on quality of life, or financial reward. Otherwise it's just too wide a topic.

A BTL landlord would have bought the property as they see London being in demand to live in and that includes people renting. This too would be reflected in the price - in this case the rental price.

Out,_Vile_Jelly

westernpromise, as an Oxbridge graduate you have fallen into the trap of assuming all other UK universities are rubbish.

I too studied English Lit, and as a straight A student was actually advised NOT to apply to Oxbridge, but to consider a more modern course at a red brick. The brightest girl in my year chose to do Medicine at Nottingham, as at the time it was the best rated med school in the country.

Where there are top universities, there are good jobs, where salaries go much further than in London (where the university I work at has a serious problem in retaining good young academics due to housing costs). Liverpool has one of the country's top equine hospitals, and also a world leading tropical medicine centre. Manchester is the place for graphene research. Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle are popular red brick destinations for all subjects. Why be a lab technician at UCL and pay London travel and housing costs, when you could do it in a city where your wages go so much further?

economic

Out,_Vile_Jelly wrote: »

westernpromise, as an Oxbridge graduate you have fallen into the trap of assuming all other UK universities are rubbish.

I too studied English Lit, and as a straight A student was actually advised NOT to apply to Oxbridge, but to consider a more modern course at a red brick. The brightest girl in my year chose to do Medicine at Nottingham, as at the time it was the best rated med school in the country.

Where there are top universities, there are good jobs, where salaries go much further than in London (where the university I work at has a serious problem in retaining good young academics due to housing costs). Liverpool has one of the country's top equine hospitals, and also a world leading tropical medicine centre. Manchester is the place for graphene research. Leeds, Birmingham, Sheffield and Newcastle are popular red brick destinations for all subjects. Why be a lab technician at UCL and pay London travel and housing costs, when you could do it in a city where your wages go so much further?

Tell all this to the many who do chose London over other cities and hence bids up the cost of living in London.