Do you own your own home?

[Mother Superior]

I've done it on my own, but have shared ownership and got a decent sum of money after being made redundant about 5 years ago. Would never be able to do it in London any other way.

 

[lolly]

Honestly between us we'd have every angle covered

I could do health & Safety/team building, you could administer all the meds to the ageing Moopers, @Lucille can do the interior design for the whole place @Floppet is our maintenance lady, @Suomi can run some classes teaching something (I've still not worked out what he teaches yet) @ZenGiraffe can run our Internet room where we all sit on computers next to each other and talk via Moopy... the list is endless

I've never understood what Suomi teaches either. I just assumed he had more of a nurturing role, morally shaping the next generation. Sometimes it keeps me up at night thinking about it.

 

[Dark Carnival]

No, I don't and this sort of chat actually stresses me whenever it comes up with friends around me.

 

[Indie]

Isn't home ownership in the minority in France though?

 

[Kate]

I do not want to live in the proposed MoopyTown because one night down the Moopy Tavern Kate is going to suggest we play Mafia and then things are going to spiral out of control really quickly.

Me surveying the carnage at 11:30pm: “And there weren’t EVEN ANY MAFIA!” *cackling for 3 hours while mopping up the blood*

 

[Kate]

Anyway. Yes I believe the inheritance tax thingy is 7 years as Rita says. Mr Kate’s mum signed her LUXURY CHISWICK RIVERSIDE FLAT over to him & his sister 8 years ago now so they will be loaded when she’s gone.

 

[OutSynk]

Owning a home? What kind of luxury?

 

[Lucille]

I didn’t own a TOASTER until 3 months ago.

 

[Mats]

we live in what wikipedia tells me is called a shared ownership in English (andelsbolig). so we don't own our flat per se, rather we own a share of the building and the right to use our flat. it was cheap (meaning we could do it on our own) because the general economy of the shared ownership is pretty unstable (bought at disproportionate value right before the crisis in 07/08, waiting for the windows to fall out, lack of maintenance etc). that also means, however, that the value of the share is set, it does not follow the market for privately owned homes which has absolutely SKYROCKETED in Copenhagen in the last few years, meaning we can't really risk moving because who won't have the money needed to buy somewhere else in the city. our friends who live in parent-subsidised privately owned flats have seen hefty increases in value - sometimes even millions - that is taxfree should they decide to sell. ridiculous and a total danger to the balance of the demography of the city

altogether, though, we're lucky *duct tapes windows to the walls*

 

[Peekaboo]

I think it was just the overall lack of diversity of people. Whenever I would visit her there, I felt distinctly uncomfortable going to the town centre and seeing 99% white faces.

More and more this is the thing for me and the reason why I'm happy to pay a premium to live in London. Even in biggish cities like Cardiff, Bristol or Liverpool where I've spent a fair amount of my time, while lovely and welcoming overall, you still very much feel like part of the minority. In London, I feel part of a majority of minorities, if that makes sense, and it's comforting. I'm not singled out or exotic, no one really cares where I come from, what I look like or how I talk.

I also like the fact that I can continually discover new places, events and people, as other people have mentioned. It's not just "the theatre" (although I like the fact that whenever I read about a film premiering, however obscure it is, I know I will be able to watch it easily somewhere in London), it's also living in the midst of a massive travel hub where everything is connected and always on. I can find what I like and it's always pretty much on hand.

 

[big ron]

In our shared office there are 4 British nationals out of 11 people. But again, London is the only cultural and diverse place in the UK.

 

[Ellie]

More and more this is the thing for me and the reason why I'm happy to pay a premium to live in London. Even in biggish cities like Cardiff, Bristol or Liverpool where I've spent a fair amount of my time, while lovely and welcoming overall, you still very much feel like part of the minority. In London, I feel part of a majority of minorities, if that makes sense, and it's comforting. I'm not singled out or exotic, no one really cares where I come from, what I look like or how I talk.

I also like the fact that I can continually discover new places, events and people, as other people have mentioned. It's not just "the theatre" (although I like the fact that whenever I read about a film premiering, however obscure it is, I know I will be able to watch it easily somewhere in London), it's also living in the midst of a massive travel hub where everything is connected and always on. I can find what I like and it's always pretty much on hand.

Yes. I mean I’m white and it just feels a bit off being in a crowd full of white people, so I can only imagine what it feels like for others. I’m just used to a huge mix of people from different backgrounds, especially where I work. With about 300 people in my department, it’s only about 50% white.

Also yes, the transport is a big plus. I never learned to drive. I may have done a while ago, but since working in transport long term and getting a free Oyster card, I just don’t need to. The cost of running a car is just another unnecessary expense in the city. Back to my mum again, she recently sold her car and is quite happy taking public transport everywhere now.

 

[VoR]

Not to diminish the lived experience of our POC, but I do wonder how much time you've actually spent outside London if you think that's the case literally everywhere else.

In rural areas and a lot of smaller towns and cities, absolutely. And obviously as the capital London is going to be the *most* diverse. But to speak to my own home, Leeds has vibrant areas that are predominantly Muslim, Jewish, Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European etc. It's not just the land of white people.

Anyway the point of this thread was really not to create another London vs Rest of UK debate, but that seems to be where we've gone...

 

[Ellie]

Oh yeah, any proper city will be the same especially anywhere in the Midlands. It’s just the smaller towns down south (outside of Brighton) that I’ve mostly noticed it being distinctly different and therefore not really a desirable place to settle. It’s only another reason why I choose to stay in London despite the cost. Have zero major connections anywhere else apart from my mad family in Wales and some quite rubbish ones in Leicester.

 

[Devil]

Everyone likes different things I guess, so people will be happier in different places. I don’t really consider ‘why would someone choose to live there’ because everyone is so different with what they like, appreciate and what makes them happy that I get people may be happy in a place I’m not.

The convenience, anonymous nature, range of options (whether I even take them or not) and connectivity of London is second to none for me. So I love it. Buying a house, however, is one of the downsides. Though while expensive, I’d say salaries tend to be significantly higher, if not enough to completely counteract the prices.

 

[Indie]

Not to diminish the lived experience of our POC, but I do wonder how much time you've actually spent outside London if you think that's the case literally everywhere else.

In rural areas and a lot of smaller towns and cities, absolutely. And obviously as the capital London is going to be the *most* diverse. But to speak to my own home, Leeds has vibrant areas that are predominantly Muslim, Jewish, Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European etc. It's not just the land of white people.

Anyway the point of this thread was really not to create another London vs Rest of UK debate, but that seems to be where we've gone...

Certainly in York it's very white. There's a black family on my street of 200 houses, and the fact that deserves mention shows how undiverse it is.

There's a small Chinese population made up of ex-students, but that's about it.

 

[Soldi]

Where I’ve (just moved out of) in Manchester it’s very diverse. It’s also one of the poorest areas in the city which is another conversation completely.

 

[Indie]

But to be honest I couldn't see myself living anywhere else in UK. I'd live abroad, for sure, but not here.

There's enough going on in the city to keep me interested (plus it's stupidly pretty) and i live about 5 minutes cycle from pure countryside. Suburbia can be hell but only when it's miles and miles of it. Surburban London sounds literally the worst.

 

[lolly]

Not to diminish the lived experience of our POC, but I do wonder how much time you've actually spent outside London if you think that's the case literally everywhere else.

In rural areas and a lot of smaller towns and cities, absolutely. And obviously as the capital London is going to be the *most* diverse. But to speak to my own home, Leeds has vibrant areas that are predominantly Muslim, Jewish, Afro-Caribbean, Eastern European etc. It's not just the land of white people.

Anyway the point of this thread was really not to create another London vs Rest of UK debate, but that seems to be where we've gone...

If Leeds is anything like Bristol though (and a quick Google tells me it's 81% white British to Bristol's 79% - compared to 45% for London), outside of those areas there are places in the city where people still feel horribly uncomfortable.

I'm sure there are pockets of such cities where non white British people feel comfortable, but who wants to live in a pocket?

I fully imagine that although other cities are considerably better than rural areas and small towns, London is still far easier.

 

[lolly]

As much as I believe the toppling of Colston's statue is a magnificent thing in Bristol's history, and that living as a POC here may be at least marginally better than most other cities in the UK, the ongoing kickback from it locally in the media is fucking exhausting for me - I dread to think how I'd feel if I wasn't white having to face it day in, day out.

 

[Peekaboo]

If Leeds is anything like Bristol though (and a quick Google tells me it's 81% white British to Bristol's 79% - compared to 45% for London), outside of those areas there are places in the city where people still feel horribly uncomfortable.

I'm sure there are pockets of such cities where non white British people feel comfortable, but who wants to live in a pocket?

I fully imagine that although other cities are considerably better than rural areas and small towns, London is still far easier.

This is what I mean, it's not that the cities that I mentioned are unwelcoming or uncultured or have never seen a foreigner before (the three cities I mentioned I love dearly because I know them fairly well), it's just that the make-up of the population is overwhelmingly white Anglo-Saxon, with pockets of other cultures. You even said it yourself @VoR that these places in Leeds are areas, they are pockets of other communities within a wider community (which also brings out other issues by the way). I don't get that feeling where I live and roam in London at all, I don't have to think whether I'm in the Caribbean quarter or whatever, everyone is mixed.

 

[lolly]

Also, in Bristol you have areas like St Paul's and Easton which are hugely diverse and vibrant and densely populated, which must skew the cities diversity figure for the rest of the city considerably.

I have a black friend who lives in Clifton (affluent, leafy, central) who tells me now she can go days walking around her local area (outside of the studenty parts at least) without ever seeing a non white face.

A city can't truly claim to be diverse when only pockets of it are.

 

[Pingu]

Oh god, I was home with my parents last week and this came up, as it always tends to do, but for the first time it did send the willies up me a little bit. Just the prospect of retiring with debt still hanging over me if I don't get a move on, combined with seemingly EVERYONE in my life looking into buying a house about now.

Most of those people are couples in fairness, although all that has done is shine a light on how far I am away from buying somewhere AND being in a relationship. Splendid.

I'll probably end up buying somewhere back in Northern Ireland for about a quarter of the price of somewhere here and just end up never living somewhere that's properly "mine."