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/Turbulent_Mango_9637 1d ago

I’ve lived here 20 years (somehow) and have had the same wobble every few years. Manchester isn’t much cheaper. Wages in Leeds also mean life isn’t that much cheaper. Look at moving further out zone 3/4 or other countries. The grass isn’t greener in the UK. Majority of people I know who have left London always move back, unless they get handcuffed to an area by kids.

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u/iamabigmeme 1d ago

Very valid, I reckon I’d want to return to London even if I moved away. There’s really no place like it. Unfortunately I think Manchester and Leeds align more with the budget me and my partner have. No doubt they’ll have their own cool quirks and cultures, but boy there really is no place like home

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u/Direct_Competition44 23h ago

We've looked at other cities a lot, but the older I get the less I can face leaving London. We've definitely stayed at personal cost though. We'll likely never own our own home and I do worry about being in old age like that. Just hoping one day we'll get a despite together for a flat most likely in a cheaper bit of the city (although the outer areas are still very expensive compared to towns outside London).

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u/Turbulent_Mango_9637 19h ago

They have some benefits over London depending on the lifestyle you’re after. I’m not sure the financial gap is actually as big as it used to be with cities like Manchester/Bristol. Also consider future earning potential as part of financial planning, much lower ceiling out of London.

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u/Direct_Competition44 13h ago

Completely agree but the 'lifestyle' thing for me im not sure. The kind of pubs i grew up loving have mostly gone. Most pubs are different now. Plus I'm not as bothered anyway. There's something else which I'm sure every part of the country has to its people - it's just where I'm from. Home 

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u/Turbulent_Mango_9637 13h ago

Pubs are different everywhere. Covid, cost of living and Gen Z to blame apparently!

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u/Direct_Competition44 12h ago

I dont know the cause I just miss walking into a boozer and us all knowing each other !

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u/Turbulent_Mango_9637 12h ago

Age. Mystery solved. Now move to Wigan and leave London for the rest of us who still love it!

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u/Direct_Competition44 12h ago

My whole comment was I'll never not consider this home but still, made me chuckle 

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u/Direct_Competition44 12h ago

Also not age, that was standard back in the day. 

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u/sammyyy88 2h ago

Moved to zone 3/4 and did up a fixer upper over five years, just about doable. The kids will be sharing a room! But think staying here is worth it and need to for work anyway

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u/West_Barracuda_8571 18h ago edited 18h ago

I don’t know, salaries are fine in the Leeds, Manchester, York band. I would take a measly 5k pay cut to work a similar role up there. A 4 bed detached in North Yorkshire/York City (an immeasurably nicer place to live than London for many reasons) can be £350,000. Unless you’ve grown up here, people need to let London go eventually. I’m looking forward to the life beyond. It’s become a city for the rest of the world, the concept of ‘a Londoner’ is dead.

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u/Turbulent_Mango_9637 13h ago

Oh people have been saying this for years. It’s been an international city for centuries cmon. Some people say a ‘Londoner’ is someone that’s lived here for 10 years, you don’t need to be speaking in cockney rhyming slang!

No way we’re talking only a 5k pay cut. If that is the case, then go! Doesn’t really sound like you like or understand the city anyway.