Would the last 35-43 year old to leave East Dulwich.....

[StraferJack]

I live there for 4 years and thought about buying a house there then (1998). If I thought long term I would have had a very dull 15 years in london

[El Pibe]

The next East Dulwich - 2 bed house, a snip at 10k http://www.rightmove.co.uk/property-for-sale/property-42495119.html

[Jeremy]

SJ, yes yes I get it. You don't want to live in East Ham. Fine. Nor do I, especially.

But if houses in established "good" areas of London are now accessible only to the wealthy, then moving to other areas is one of the options. And if affordability really is approaching tipping point, then surely more and more people will be doing just that. It's not necessarily about finding the "next" anything, it's about making do, which is what almost all of us do already to some degree.

[Otta]

I work in Newham (home of East and West Ham, Stratford, Plaistow among others) and whilst a lot of it is still grim as ever, there are signs that it is slowly pulling itself up.

I have even considered looking at East Ham. The area around Central Park is quite quiet and nice.

[El Pibe]

"quite quiet and nice"

wow, you really are stepping up an age demographic aren't you!!!

[StraferJack]

Historically making do is what you do in mid range jobs

If making do wasn't enough you became a professional and "got on"

I think what mrben is saying is that it's getting a but weird when well paid professionals have to "make do". For the sale of a decade.

People buying here 10-15 years ago weren't just making do, they were taking an educated punt (which paid off)

Suggesting people try same in eltham isn't same thing at all

I totally get that it's how it is. And at the moment there are enough people lucky enough to be able to support buyers in the area (parents helping out etc)

I don't think anyone is suggesting a revolution. But mrbens point is a point worth noting. Saying "'twas ever thus" isn't quite true and others saying move to eltham is something else again

[StraferJack]

Last time I went to east ham was maybe a year ago. Didn't look any better to me. Busy high st. Precious few places to go of an evening

[StraferJack]

It's worth noting as well that mrben is no bleeding heart liberal

Woe betide anyone who suggests his entrepreneurial efforts don't deserve their dues. So as canaries in coal mines go, his op is significant

There is much I agree with in Jeremy/daver and other posts as well. I don't think anyone is "the bad guy" in the debate.

But there is, to my mind, a whiff of 2007 about some of this. "Anyone smell anything wrong?" "Nope full speed ahead and don't be listening to naysayers"

[StraferJack]

@otta. Further up east ham high st north is Ruskin Arms. A proper rock pub with regular gigs. Lots of big bands state of there. Quo played there for some reason when I was there as well

[Jeremy]

I'm not disagreeing (as such) with SJ and MrBen. Something does smell fishy when you have to be a 6-figure high earner with a 6-figure deposit to buy a 3 bed house in what is a nice-but-not-fancy neighbourhood. But at the same time I think that people have always had to find the right mixture of location/size for their income and lifestyle, and there are still relatively affordable areas in and around London.

[Help-Ma-Boab]

This East Ham you speak of, does it have a road, a straight mile long with a pub at either end? Could be a game changer...

I'm moving into the West Wing at MrBen's I've decided.

[????]

I dunno, my street seems to be hanging on in there. There's only been one splitter (ahem)...and he only went as far as 'over the Lane a bit nearer the Village'.........

[Mick Mac]

The original point was about your friends moving not your neighbours.

(I'm just going to press enter and then quickly check the OP to see if that is actually correct or not but what the hell.)

[????]

Just. Checking the op will let you in on the cliquey in-joke.....or do I have to spell it out?

[Mick Mac]

We have discussed your mate moving ad nauseam on page 1.

[red devil]

Help-Ma-Boab Wrote:

-------------------------------------------------------

> I'm moving into the West Wing at MrBen's I've

> decided.

You can't stay in the West Wing H-M-B, that's the servant's quarters...

[julesclaire]

when it takes you longer to recover from the evening before, than the evening itself

when you used to listen to garage and now listen to michael bubleeee

when girls refer to you as 'lady' or 'woman' in a queue

when you buy an item of clothing because it looks comfortable or easy to clean

when you avoid clothes that are dry clean only

when 11pm on a thursday night seems so naughty !

when u used to rave and now you bake !!!

and im only 36 !!!! bring on the slippers !!

[StraferJack]

When you post in the wrong thread...

[Jeremy]

If it's any consolation, it has ALWAYS taken me longer to recover from the evening before than the evening itself. And I've always avoided dry-clean only clothes (can't stand suits). And I sometimes bake.

And back on topic, I've never been able to afford a house in ED, and possibly never will.

But I will never... I repeat, never... willingly listen to Michael Buble.

[StraferJack]

Interesting animated gif showing UK year on year house price to earning ratios since 1997

http://twitpic.com/de6o0q

[DaveR]

It is interesting, but to be an accurate representation of affordability it would have to factor in interest rates.

Looking back through this thread it is also interesting that many people talk about 'professionals' being priced out of ED/London/wherever. One thing that hasn't been discussed (but is highly relevant) is the massive pay gap that has opened up between, very broadly, jobs in or connected to banking and finance, and many other 'professional' jobs. The figure of ?90k household income has been bandied about; I'm afraid to say that that's what some US law firms pay newly qualified solicitors these days. That's an extreme example, but generally the pay of bankers, commercial lawyers and accountants has massively outstripped that of many other professional/graduate careers.

[*Bob*]

Benefits of a highly litigious society.

However - these are plum jobs, surely - not the norm? Jobs at top law firms with low staffing levels. Jobs available to Ivy League grads with connections.

I daresay if you double first at Cambridge your earning potential in Law is going to be somewhat higher than your more usual 2:1 from Leeds. Most people go to Leeds, not to Cambridge. So to speak.

[DaveR]

It's not litigation related, funnily enough. The really big money is all linked to transactional work e.g. mergers & acquisitions and big corporate finance deals. And you'd be surprised just how many people are employed by the big law firms, accounting firms, consulting firms, plus all the similar types working in-house for big corporates, and others in broadly 'City' jobs i.e. banks and assorted finance houses, dealers, brokers etc. I don't think I've ever come across anyone in one of these jobs with a double first from Cambridge (they still join MI6 apparently), but there are loads with 2.1s from Leeds.

If you are genuinely interested in how much commercial lawyers earn, click the link below. In London and the Home Counties ?70k appears to be the minimum at 5 years PQE i.e. about 29 years old. Makes you sick, doesn't it.

http://uk.hudson.com/Portals/UK/documents/SalarySurveys/legal-salary-survey-2012.pdf

[*Bob*]

If anyone wants to study law and then be a lawyer, they're welcome to whatever they can get!

[DaveR]

Yeah, that was meant to come across tongue in cheek, rather than bitter and twisted.

I guess the serious point is that there are people being priced out of East Dulwich, and some of those people are professional types in their thirties and forties who probably thought that they were comparatively high earners, but it turns out that they're not. As a result the neighbourhood is probably going to become less diverse and interesting and that's a shame. But the fact that some people are moving out is not a sign that something's wrong with the economy/the housing market/the world, or that any kind of tipping point has been reached.