I am depressed

Harrybrown100121

Many thanks for your help.I think the solution is to get a job where I can from home at least two days a week. I don't think the CS will allow me to do this.

Slinky

Harrybrown100121 said:

Many thanks for your help.I think the solution is to get a job where I can from home at least two days a week. I don't think the CS will allow me to do this.

I have a relative who is a Civil Servant. They work from home 4 days a week at the moment, although they will probably be going to 3 days at some point. It's unlikely they will ever have to do 5 days a week in the office.

Rosa_Damascena

hazyjo said:

youth_leader said:

I was going to suggest Leigh-on-Sea @hazyjo, but thought prices had gone through the roof.  My Grandad worked at the Stock Exchange in the 60's and he moved out to Leigh-on-Sea, commuted into London daily.  

Yup it's pricey but cheaper than London and there are places nearby which are okay and reasonable. It's the C2C line which is cheaper than others. Go slightly north of London Road and prices drop. Still walkable to the station. If I knew their budget, I'll try to suggest something.

South of London Road and you struggle to park outside your own home, homes are also incredibly expensive for what they are and life is not all ha-ha-hee-hee on the Broadway either. North of London Rd and it's a bit of a faff from Leigh / Chalkwell stations if you're tired at the end of the day, as public transport runs east-west and not north-south. 

I'm within spitting distance of a station further down the track and do everything I can to avoid commuting. I'm also much happier out of London but then I have 15 years on the OP and got London out of my system a long time ago! So I understand why he is disheartened, but life cannot be put on hold. In his position I'd still be aiming for London, but somewhere microscopic or slightly bigger in zone 4, with a plan to upsize in 5 years.

oystercatcher

Harrybrown100121 said:

Many thanks for your help.I think the solution is to get a job where I can from home at least two days a week. I don't think the CS will allow me to do this.

My husband is in CS and has been working from home for 2 years , however they have now announced that they will remove London weighting payments unless staff attend office at least 3 days a week. I think his season ticket is about 350 a month from Nort Herts to Kings X, you can buy a 1 bed place round here for about 160K upwards. No idea what your budget would be.

Grumpy_chap

youth_leader said:

My husband and I had that situation too.  I worked at the BBC in White City and we couldn't afford to buy in London, eventually we bought our first house in 'Whitton borders' - which is really Hounslow.  As the mortgage was lower I had the money for the underground fares. 

Now, that's interesting.
The OP wants to buy "in London".
You wanted to buy "in London" but had to settle for "'Whitton borders' - which is really Hounslow".  Isn't that still in London?
Where do people mean when they say they want to buy "in London"?

strawb_shortcake

Harrybrown100121 said:

Many thanks for your help.I think the solution is to get a job where I can from home at least two days a week. I don't think the CS will allow me to do this.

I'm CS,  only go in one day a week, there are lots of remote working opportunities if you are willing to change department 

youth_leader

@Grumpy_chap we wanted to live in Ealing where we were renting.  We couldn't even afford Acton.  Nothing in our budget so went out to the suburbs and bought near my Mum, which turned out well in the end as she helped us with food. Albeit it often sell by date sausages!

hazyjo

Rosa_Damascena said:

hazyjo said:

youth_leader said:

I was going to suggest Leigh-on-Sea @hazyjo, but thought prices had gone through the roof.  My Grandad worked at the Stock Exchange in the 60's and he moved out to Leigh-on-Sea, commuted into London daily.  

Yup it's pricey but cheaper than London and there are places nearby which are okay and reasonable. It's the C2C line which is cheaper than others. Go slightly north of London Road and prices drop. Still walkable to the station. If I knew their budget, I'll try to suggest something.

South of London Road and you struggle to park outside your own home, homes are also incredibly expensive for what they are and life is not all ha-ha-hee-hee on the Broadway either. North of London Rd and it's a bit of a faff from Leigh / Chalkwell stations if you're tired at the end of the day, as public transport runs east-west and not north-south. 

I'm within spitting distance of a station further down the track and do everything I can to avoid commuting. I'm also much happier out of London but then I have 15 years on the OP and got London out of my system a long time ago! So I understand why he is disheartened, but life cannot be put on hold. In his position I'd still be aiming for London, but somewhere microscopic or slightly bigger in zone 4, with a plan to upsize in 5 years.

Without a budget it's hard to expand on this conversation...

Wasn't so much a suggestion of areas, more to enlighten them re fares. I'm still loving Leigh though and will often recommend it.

If the budget is £200k, no chance. If it's 300-350k, buy in somewhere like Wanstead.

Depends what they're happy with. My nephew bought a really smart 1 bed flat there for around 315k.

SallyCinnamon

annabanana82 said:

Harrybrown100121 said:

Many thanks for your help.I think the solution is to get a job where I can from home at least two days a week. I don't think the CS will allow me to do this.

I'm CS,  only go in one day a week, there are lots of remote working opportunities if you are willing to change department 

I agree. Most departments are operating a hybrid approach I think - although it does depend to some extent on the type of job you do OP (e.g. frontline service or something where you need to be on site for internal customers might be less flexible). Opportunities for career progression in London are likely to get less in my opinion as more and more jobs are moved outside London and the SE for the levelling up agenda. I think it's a good time to be considering options outside London if workplace is your major tie, or as others say, look a bit further afield for housing.

When I lived in London, I thought overground would be so much extra time and hassle compared to the tube but I was so wrong!! I find the trains much more comfortable and generally reliable (yes, I might have to wait 15 minutes for the next train rather than. 2 or 3 but it doesn't take much planning). My train journey tends to be around 40 mins (in comfort) and I walk from Victoria to the office. Admittedly the cost is greater (although flexible season tickets will help as I'm not going in as often now), but it's weighing up the cost of housing vs the cost of commute.

TripleH

Friends of ours who work in the civil service lived in Romford have moved to Wales during the pandemic. Both work from home.

They do have to go in to their office a few times a year but a hotel for then is a cheaper option for them to move to their dream home several years early.

They're also near several regional offices if they need to go in to a location in the meantime.

Think they will be loosing their London weighting soon however.