How do people with normal jobs manage to live in London?

[gingerjedi]

Outside the SE people will still be able to buy.

Yeah cheap as chips in the South West, average wages are sky high too...

[OwlHoot]

Seems like a ticking time-bomb, unless we have hyper inflation in wages.

WHS

The "young people" Sasguru and others mentioned won't be content, even if they are now, to live a carefree rented flat-sharing life for long, when they're not so young in ten or twenty years and realise that their chance of buying property is as remote and illusory as ever.

Then it'll dawn on the smarter ones that they've been stitched up like kippers by successive governments, especially Labour, by letting literally millions of foreigners into the country. Even now the vast majority of top-end property in central London and elsewhere is being bought up by foreigners (although in fairness hundreds of thousands of British people are emigrating and buying property overseas).

[doodab]

You sad pauper

I'm just pointing out that your part of Wandsworth isn't exactly central London.

I think you'll find the overlap between people on "normal" wages and Londoners who have done well out of the property boom is fairly slim. Most of the people I know on "normal" wages simply moved out of London when it came time to start a family because they could get better value elsewhere.

[sasguru]

WHS

The "young people" Sasguru and others mentioned won't be content, even if they are now, to live a carefree rented flat-sharing life for long, when they're not so young in ten or twenty years and realise that their chance of buying property is as remote and illusory as ever.

Then it'll dawn on the smarter ones that they've been stitched up like kippers by successive governments, especially Labour, by letting literally millions of foreigners into the country. Even now the vast majority of top-end property in central London and elsewhere is being bought up by foreigners (although in fairness hundreds of thousands of British people are emigrating and buying property overseas).

It's true that London is like a giant experiment in globalisation - its been at the forefront of change for centuries.
Like it or not, it presages the future elsewhere in Europe as the indigenous population ages and lives longer while not breeding fast enough to replace itself.
AFAIK, anyway Germany has a higher proportion of foreign born inhabitants than the UK.

[sasguru]

I'm just pointing out that your part of Wandsworth isn't exactly central London.

I think you'll find the overlap between people on "normal" wages and Londoners who have done well out of the property boom is fairly slim. Most of the people I know on "normal" wages simply moved out of London when it came time to start a family because they could get better value elsewhere.

Oh I don't know 8 trains an hour to central London in under half an hour.
I could sell up and buy a small house in Chelsea, but it wouldn't be detached and have a nice big garden with two apple trees.
And you'd have to cope with the masses who descend on King's Road every weekend.
If i'm sat in garden at the weekend I could be in the countryside for all I hear.
So I think I've got the best of both worlds.

Re your other point I'm not sure the overlap is "fairly slim" as you claim. I think many people cashed in and moved out, you're right about that, but there are plenty of people living in London on median wages who like it and find it affordable because their mortgages aren't that great - I know quite a few.

[Arturo Bassick]

Re your other point I'm not sure the overlap is "fairly slim" as you claim. I think many people cashed in and moved out, you're right about that, but there are plenty of people living in London on median wages who like it and find it affordable because their mortgages aren't that great - I know quite a few.

How will that hold up in the future? The majority of jobs in London are low earning. From hotel and bar staff through to nurses and police people are not earning a wage that will fund buying property in London and rents are so high that they can not afford that either. The current generation may already have property but there is no guarantee that their children will fill the low level jobs of the future.
If the low paid can not afford to live in London then they will have to live outside and commute, but salaries do not pay enough for that either.
As someone said, this is a ticking bomb. At some stage in the future there will be no low level workers able or willing to live in or commute to London. What then.

[eek]

Re your other point I'm not sure the overlap is "fairly slim" as you claim. I think many people cashed in and moved out, you're right about that, but there are plenty of people living in London on median wages who like it and find it affordable because their mortgages aren't that great - I know quite a few.

You mean those lucky enough to have bought between 1993-1999.

[sasguru]

How will that hold up in the future? The majority of jobs in London are low earning. From hotel and bar staff through to nurses and police people are not earning a wage that will fund buying property in London and rents are so high that they can not afford that either. The current generation may already have property but there is no guarantee that their children will fill the low level jobs of the future.
If the low paid can not afford to live in London then they will have to live outside and commute, but salaries do not pay enough for that either.
As someone said, this is a ticking bomb. At some stage in the future there will be no low level workers able or willing to live in or commute to London. What then.

The market will correct itself - Businesses and rich families will leave because they can't get the help they need and prices will fall.

[sasguru]

You mean those lucky enough to have bought between 1993-1999.

No 1945-2002. There's quite a few.

[BlasterBates]

It used to be possible, and probably a lot of people living there have been there long enough to establish themselves. In the 90's you could fairly easily afford to buy a house, but then the prices rocketed. Now it's an impossibility. So probably a lot in their 40's and 50's (teachers nurses etc) doing fine, but not possible now. Flat share for ever or move away.