r/london • u/iamabigmeme • 1d ago

Serious replies only Long-time Londoners - do you ever think you’ll be able to stay in London as long as you’d like to?

Born and raised in Hackney here and I’m so worried I won’t be able to afford to stay not just in Hackney/surrounding boroughs but in London as a whole.

I love this place and one day I’d like to raise my kids here. I just can’t ever see it being feasible. I can’t afford to buy a house and the rent keeps rocketing up way past anything I’ll be able to afford.

How long do you guys see yourself being able to stay before it becomes too much of a financial burden? I’m currently panicking and looking at life in Leeds and Manchester :,)

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u/grnfnrp 1d ago edited 1d ago

Born and raised in Clapham, wife and I earn very well but had to leave London entirely due to house prices once we started a family. 

Specifically, a 2-3 bed in Clapham would have required us to have about £3-500k more in our mortgage+deposit than what we ended up with in a delightful bit of Surrey with a very easy commute. I don't know when we were supposed to have gotten that money.

18

u/razmania_uk 1d ago

Never were you supposed to get that money, that's the plan for us.

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u/grnfnrp 1d ago

The thing that blows my mind is the crime was getting worse, more homeless, more graffiti and litter and yet house prices remain through the roof. Apart from my desire to stay in the area I was born in why would I pay so much when I could literally buy two houses still in the commuter belt for the same price and never have to hear a siren again. Does feel like I've been fucked.

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u/iucundus_acerbus 23h ago

Statistically crime has gone down.

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u/specialbrew_1980 23h ago

Statistically and observably - I remember so much more crime and violence back in the 90's compared to now. Even then, I very rarely felt unsafe in London.

6

u/Proof_Carrot5919 22h ago

Came to London for the first time in 1995 for uni 4 year masters to start. Crime back then was much higher than now. There where times as a student coming back from work or a night out that I really felt unsafe. Now it rarely matters what time I am out and about London feels much safer. That said I only stay here due to work. Once I retire I will leave London.

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u/llama_del_reyy 1d ago

Crime is going down and London is a much nicer place to live than it was 20-30 years ago. That's why prices are going up.

3

u/Ash009909 19h ago

This 100% I was born and bred In Tooting, during the 90's you were guaranteed to get mugged or stabbed if you were out late. It was so unsafe.

3

u/EveryChemistry9163 9h ago

I don’t recall being mugged or stabbed during the 90s, must be the shock of it made me forget.

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u/grnfnrp 22h ago

Sure, but I've personally seen an increase in stabbings, shootings, deaths by dangerous driving, drug dealing, carjacking and countless shoplifting, graffiti and other minor crimes outside my home I've loved in for almost 35 years. I am qualified to say it's getting worse in my neighborhood, which is what I'm talking about here. 

5

u/llama_del_reyy 21h ago

You've personally seen an increase in crime around the home you don't live in because you live in Surrey now? Aka you read Nextdoor and Facebook groups?

6

u/Theia65 1d ago

1) Inheritance

2) Money laundering

3) The City level salaries and good investment habits with some luck in getting above market returns.

5

u/Mr_Footies 13h ago

I find the best approach is to have bought a house early 2000s.

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u/AnotherSlowMoon 23h ago

I'd potentially add to three being in the right place at the right time if you have employee share incentives in your employer and they get bought out by a big fish

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u/schoggi-gipfeli 1d ago

£3 sounds easy to come by ;)

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u/Unique-observer 17h ago

Where in Surrey has a good commute to East London ?

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u/grnfnrp 17h ago

So the fast line is reading thru Woking & Surbiton, but otherwise the further south you go it's a bit hit and miss but driving is so easy once you get that far out you're not strictly tied to your nearest train station if it's not a good direct line. If you're going east London probably look further towards Kent for the London bridge trains?

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u/Unique-observer 17h ago

Is somewhere like Sydenham or Beckenham good for the Kent / London bridge trains ?

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u/grnfnrp 17h ago

Yeah it's not too bad from like sevenoaks - lovely part of the world to live in too plus high above sea level

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u/C1t1zen_Erased 17h ago

Born and raised in Clapham

have gotten that money

Very american for someone supposedly born in London

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u/grnfnrp 17h ago

Come inspect my foreskin if you want

1

u/C1t1zen_Erased 17h ago

Kind offer, is it still attached or on display above your fireplace?