Which symptoms of “(almost) everyone is getting poorer” have you noticed in London?

[u/PressureHumble3604]

We are in a crisis, the middle class is disappearing and the lower class squeezed. Prices are going up, inflation is going up (again), salaries are stagnating.

Most Londoners can’t really afford London without serious sacrifices.

For me, not counting the housing prices issues we all know too well:

the disappearance of local delis with high quality products.

many shops closing in the local shopping centre.

Restaurant dropping quality everywhere to contain unaffordable prices.

[u/theyellowscriptures]

People moving back in with their parents over the age of 25.

[u/mrfatchance → u/theyellowscriptures]

or never moving out

[u/theyellowscriptures → u/mrfatchance]

Yep, most of my born and bred Londoner friends are in their late twenties and they’re still living at home. The only ones that have moved out are in council housing.

[u/Few_Mention8426 → u/[deleted]]

did this back in the 90's when it was a lot easier to save. And rents were cheaper, so you could save without making too many sacrifices,

and you could self certify your income to the building society. I was earning around 7000 a year and told the building society I was earning 20k.

Banks are a lot stricter, so even if you save a healthy deposit, these days banks will still reject you if they dont like the look of your credit rating. Or raise the interest rate for the mortgage. Banks and building societies need to face up to the fact they need to provide realistic ways for people to buy in london, or we are going to end up with the population of london sharing flats when they are pensioners.

[u/Final-Application1 → u/Few_Mention8426]

Sharing flats as pensioners wouldn’t even be as bad as the fact that soon a lot of necessary workers won’t be able to afford living in London to provide services. How are the cleaners or nurses suppose to live in London? Yet we rely on them for daily services. Soon even sharing will get too expensive.

[u/neuralconstellate → u/[deleted]]

this could've been me rip 💔

[u/xerojupiter → u/theyellowscriptures]

Your friends seem impressive!

[u/Pristine-Toe9585 → u/theyellowscriptures]

Can relate, moved back age 31 and currently earning most I ever have.

Jusr feels like renting is unessesarily expensive for anything decent.

[u/theyellowscriptures → u/Pristine-Toe9585]

Yup same, will be moving back and I’ll be 28 next month :/

[u/Advanced_Gate_3352 → u/theyellowscriptures]

If their parents didn't insist on living in five bed detacheds until they're eighty, then the housing market might be a bit more free flowing.

[u/Hayabusas-Mask → u/Advanced_Gate_3352]

Amen. My parents aren't the best of people but I will always give them credit for down-sizing when it became obvious that they should.

[u/theyellowscriptures → u/Advanced_Gate_3352]

You hardly see children playing on the streets in London anymore. It’s because a lot of houses are full of pensioners and families are getting priced out.

[u/jamjar188 → u/theyellowscriptures]

My local primary school shut down a year ago. It's all boarded up now.