Can’t afford to rent or buy - don’t know what to do

lady1964

Luke451 said:

[Deleted User] said:

I wouldn't recommend  Birmingham, sure it's got great train services, and I have no doubt there are lots of interesting places there, but have you seen the number of stabbings in that area? ( live within the county so see this on the local news) but for actual stats on knife crime:

"ONS data shows that in 2022/23, West Midlands Police recorded the highest rate of 178 offences per 100,000 population. In contrast, the North Yorkshire recorded the lowest rate of 35 offences each, per 100,000 population." 

Like many cities there are good bits but you do really need to do your research, wherever you decide on. I'd go North!

UK has criminals everywhere, and regarding knife crime, just give them what they want, majority of bad knife crimes happen between gangs. 

Plus, it's enough to avoid certain areas and certain people in life completely.

You can't recommend Yorkshire if he wants to travel to London to see family and friends, though I agree that it's nice up there.

We do have trains in Yorkshire, from York to Kings Cross for example, takes 2 hours and if one books early enough, fares can be very reasonable, Hull to Kings Cross takes approx 2.5 hours on a direct run and Leeds to Kings Cross just a bit over 2 hours.

Hull is one of the least expensive places for FTB and yes, parts are a bit grim but there’s a shedload of investment going into the city and people do get educated in Yorkshire too.

SadieO

OP do you work at a university? If so, would looking at university cities be a good starting point for considering a move to somewhere new? Especially cities with multiple, eg York,  Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield. Depends on your role of course, but lots of universities in my experience have pretty frequent turnover in staff vacancies so there's often jobs to go for.  I find university cities to generally be pretty good at having lively social events, arts events etc. Plus there's usually some staff on short term contracts, rotations etc so there's often lots of vibrancy, people coming and going and people who are new and looking to make friends. (Unlike my parents' small town where everyone seems to know everyone and no-one ever seems to move in or out!)

Decent train links to London too, about 2 hours for most of these I think, if you want to go back to visit. Of course some of the cities I mention have expensive areas to live but I don't think any of them are as expensive as London. And I'm sure they all have more options than London does to look for a bit of a fixer-upper or a small/ cheap flat or terrace. 

[Deleted User]

SadieO said:

OP do you work at a university? If so, would looking at university cities be a good starting point for considering a move to somewhere new? Especially cities with multiple, eg York,  Leeds, Manchester, Liverpool, Newcastle, Sheffield. Depends on your role of course, but lots of universities in my experience have pretty frequent turnover in staff vacancies so there's often jobs to go for.  I find university cities to generally be pretty good at having lively social events, arts events etc. Plus there's usually some staff on short term contracts, rotations etc so there's often lots of vibrancy, people coming and going and people who are new and looking to make friends. (Unlike my parents' small town where everyone seems to know everyone and no-one ever seems to move in or out!)

Decent train links to London too, about 2 hours for most of these I think, if you want to go back to visit. Of course some of the cities I mention have expensive areas to live but I don't think any of them are as expensive as London. And I'm sure they all have more options than London does to look for a bit of a fixer-upper or a small/ cheap flat or terrace. 

I do. That was sort of the plan with moving to Norwich. I could potentially have gotten a job at one of the universities there or in Cambridge. And in the meantime, I was travelling to London office once every two weeks. It was horrible though and I felt like I was in a witness protection scheme. I’m not sure that I like the UK all that much so when friends and family are taken out of the equation, I don’t do too well. I think it’s different moving away for university as you have peers in the same boat. I think if I up sticks and move to a different city, I’ll be too depressed. I know it’s a bit pathetic but it’s good that I know my options. 

I’ll probably end up in another houseshare tbh as that’s the best option available to me where I don’t have to cut ties with everything I know. 

[Deleted User]

[Deleted User] said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

I will look into chatgpt though. It will be interesting to see what it says. The more I look, the more I get the sense that I am not able to buy, unless I find someone else to buy with. So I think I’ll have to continue house sharing. It horrifies me that I’ll still be doing that in my late thirties but I’ll have to try and adjust my expectations. 

MultiFuelBurner

Rather than chat gpt speak to the friends and family you don't want to move away from. Don't use AI talk this out with real people.

lincroft1710

[Deleted User] said:

[Deleted User] said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

. 

Sorry, but how can people spending £6K - £10K on getting to their office be "unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport"?? Do you think these people should commute by car and cause even more traffic congestion? Go to St Albans on any weekday before 9.00 am and see how many people get on the London trains. Imagine all those people driving into London.

RHemmings

lincroft1710 said:

wildbilljones said:

Purbeck14 said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

. 

Sorry, but how can people spending £6K - £10K on getting to their office be "unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport"?? Do you think these people should commute by car and cause even more traffic congestion? Go to St Albans on any weekday before 9.00 am and see how many people get on the London trains. Imagine all those people driving into London.

I'm not the person you asked, but my take on @[Deleted User]' statement and your question about it is that like certain other things such as healthcare, perhaps transport should be subsidised by central government enough that it is available to all at a reasonable price. As it is in quite a few other countries. The alternative is not more cars, but cheaper trains and potentially other public transport.

When thinking about this thread, I looked up the price of a season ticket on GWR from Swindon to London. I was gob-smacked as to how expensive it was. I hope that I made an error and got the wrong price, because otherwise that public transport is certainly not available to all. 

lincroft1710

RHemmings said:

lincroft1710 said:

wildbilljones said:

Purbeck14 said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

. 

Sorry, but how can people spending £6K - £10K on getting to their office be "unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport"?? Do you think these people should commute by car and cause even more traffic congestion? Go to St Albans on any weekday before 9.00 am and see how many people get on the London trains. Imagine all those people driving into London.

I'm not the person you asked, but my take on @[Deleted User]' statement and your question about it is that like certain other things such as healthcare, perhaps transport should be subsidised by central government enough that it is available to all at a reasonable price. As it is in quite a few other countries. The alternative is not more cars, but cheaper trains and potentially other public transport.

When thinking about this thread, I looked up the price of a season ticket on GWR from Swindon to London. I was gob-smacked as to how expensive it was. I hope that I made an error and got the wrong price, because otherwise that public transport is certainly not available to all. 

Central govt already subsidise bus travel for pensioners and are slowly eroding the benefit. The NHS is desperately underfunded, so where will the govt get the money to subsidise public transport. If they do and taxes are increased to fund it, a lot of unhappy taxpayers will resent paying for London* commuters to get to work

*Other commuter cities are available.

RHemmings

lincroft1710 said:

RHemmings said:

lincroft1710 said:

wildbilljones said:

Purbeck14 said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

. 

Sorry, but how can people spending £6K - £10K on getting to their office be "unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport"?? Do you think these people should commute by car and cause even more traffic congestion? Go to St Albans on any weekday before 9.00 am and see how many people get on the London trains. Imagine all those people driving into London.

I'm not the person you asked, but my take on @[Deleted User]' statement and your question about it is that like certain other things such as healthcare, perhaps transport should be subsidised by central government enough that it is available to all at a reasonable price. As it is in quite a few other countries. The alternative is not more cars, but cheaper trains and potentially other public transport.

When thinking about this thread, I looked up the price of a season ticket on GWR from Swindon to London. I was gob-smacked as to how expensive it was. I hope that I made an error and got the wrong price, because otherwise that public transport is certainly not available to all. 

Central govt already subsidise bus travel for pensioners and are slowly eroding the benefit. The NHS is desperately underfunded, so where will the govt get the money to subsidise public transport. If they do and taxes are increased to fund it, a lot of unhappy taxpayers will resent paying for London* commuters to get to work

*Other commuter cities are available.

I didn't say that the UK government would be able to do it. I said that other governments manage to do it and that it's the morally right thing to do. 

lincroft1710

RHemmings said:

lincroft1710 said:

RHemmings said:

lincroft1710 said:

wildbilljones said:

Purbeck14 said:

A couple on 'Location, location, location' last night put their requirements into AI (Chatgpt?) and it produced  the 'perfect location' for them, Phil found them a house there. Of course it does help when you have 700K! Might be an interesting little experiment to try though. 

EDIT as I've just read a bit of your previous thread, where you state  your type of work and really London being where that  work is but that you didn't feel able or willing to pay commuting costs too far out. So really travelling  a distance to continue working in London doesn't seem feasible for you? Which is fair enough. 

I think the UK isn’t really the right place for long commutes. I know some people can accept paying 6-10k a year just on getting to their office but I find that to be unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport. 

. 

Sorry, but how can people spending £6K - £10K on getting to their office be "unethical and defeating the purpose of public transport"?? Do you think these people should commute by car and cause even more traffic congestion? Go to St Albans on any weekday before 9.00 am and see how many people get on the London trains. Imagine all those people driving into London.

I'm not the person you asked, but my take on @[Deleted User]' statement and your question about it is that like certain other things such as healthcare, perhaps transport should be subsidised by central government enough that it is available to all at a reasonable price. As it is in quite a few other countries. The alternative is not more cars, but cheaper trains and potentially other public transport.

When thinking about this thread, I looked up the price of a season ticket on GWR from Swindon to London. I was gob-smacked as to how expensive it was. I hope that I made an error and got the wrong price, because otherwise that public transport is certainly not available to all. 

Central govt already subsidise bus travel for pensioners and are slowly eroding the benefit. The NHS is desperately underfunded, so where will the govt get the money to subsidise public transport. If they do and taxes are increased to fund it, a lot of unhappy taxpayers will resent paying for London* commuters to get to work

*Other commuter cities are available.

I didn't say that the UK government would be able to do it. I said that other governments manage to do it and that it's the morally right thing to do. 

Well if the UK govt wouldn't be able to do it why did you say this

"perhaps transport should be subsidised by central government enough that it is available to all at a reasonable price"


Why is it "morally the right thing to do"? That implies that not subsidising is immoral