General Election in 2013?

[Chilly]

When I first moved to London I struggled on 25 grand - seventeen years ago! I honestly don't know how you'd do it on that kind of money now; frankly you'd probably be better off on the dole.

Unless you had kids or some other obligation you were living like a total cunt by the sounds of it. I started five years ago on 26k and had a pretty good time living in Fulham.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

It's only because I live with my partner in the suburbs can we afford to live. Rent is expensive, council tax is expensive and travel is very expensive.

We live in a great location in a pretty high quality flat, an hour to central by public transport or car (off-peak). It's great being close enough to stuff that you can still do what you want. The worst part about living here is the cost of and commuting to work. In my eyes charging me £170p/m to travel OFF PEAK to my low paying job is frankly unacceptable. Every year it's 8% fare rises and every year the service is noticeably worse, with more delays, more cancellations and more and more instances of me having to find completely alternate routes home with increasing frequency. If it wasn't for this it'd be a great place to live. I don't spend much money, only regular things are bills/car/food/travel/weed. Bonuses and more recently a couple of bits of inheritance provide me with enough backup support and cash to play with occasionally (hence 5D3, which is obviously way out of my price range on normal wage - cheers Granddad!).

Obviously having said that if rents continue to go up at the rate they are we may struggle to afford to live in the next couple of years. What's happening to the rental market down here is absolutely disgusting and forcing people back into their parents homes in their 20s and 30s.

 

[DaGaffer]

I'm not entirely sure what "living like a total cunt" means. Although I will admit I was living just off Marble Arch and I had a nice flat with my girlfriend rather than a house share.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

http://shitlondon.co.uk/directions/

 

[Raven]

I live about an hour from Euston, add 10-15 mins on to that for anywhere in London on the tube. But I live 80 odd miles away. It's also less than an hour to the Cotswolds 2-3 hours to the peak district and lake district.

I don't understand why anyone would live in London. Work sure, decent money...but live? fuck no.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yeah all the great people and variety of things to do, an hour from the coast.

Fucking shit place to live.

 

[Raven]

That's not quite what I said.

It takes me the same amount of time to get there as you yet there are more things to do here and the cost of living is lower.

Anyway, I find London is largely full of pretentious dicks, horses for courses I suppose.

Countryside > city

 

[DaGaffer]

I live about an hour from Euston, add 10-15 mins on to that for anywhere in London on the tube. But I live 80 odd miles away. It's also less than an hour to the Cotswolds 2-3 hours to the peak district and lake district.

I don't understand why anyone would live in London. Work sure, decent money...but live? fuck no.

I always pitied the long-haul commuters coming into London frankly. London = good, 30-70 mile doughnut around London = suburban crapholes. I spent a lot of my London years living in London (because its cool 'n shit) and commuting outside (in shitholes like Bracknell and Reading) that I wouldn't move to for love or money.

 

[cHodAX]

See lots of people busy not living in the real world again. I wouldn't work in London for 60 grand, not a fucking chance. And 300 quid a day isn't that big a deal; you take three people out for lunch and that's gone.

I have a pretty low opinion of all politicians frankly, but if you compare the UK to other countries, our politicians are relatively cheap to run (about 8th in Europe, and politicians in a lot of Asian countries get paid loads more).

What you have to look it is the opportunity cost and benefits of being a politician; for example, something like 20% of MPs are qualified barristers. So they're giving up up a salary that can go anywhere from 250K up to nearly 1M for the best paid legal aid barrister, never mind private work. Now there are certainly long-term benefits to being a politician (like ending up as a non-exec director on several company boards for example), but that could be decades down the line.

If MPs are caught with their hand in the cookie jar, throw the book at them, but moaning about their current expense levels is trivial stuff.

You are living under the illusion that they actually work while in London. The attendance records tell a very different story.

 

[Wazzerphuk]

When I suburbs, I mean London suburbs. Not those places that are fucking miles away that people claim are suburbs. They're just country with transport links. Waterloo is 30 mins on the train so *anywhere* in London is about an hour, none of this "about an hour" until you get to the outskirts of it rubbish

 

[Raven]

Waterloo was 45 minutes from where I used to live (Farnborough) that was a fucking dump though. It needs a wrecking ball or two

 

[Wazzerphuk]

Yep. You can hardly call it a suburb though

 

[Ormorof]

if its inside the M25 its in "London suburb" territory i was told once, a lot of farmland in between London and the edge of some parts of the M25

 

[dysfunction]

I'm 20 mins away from London bridge station on main rail line which also goes to charing cross so very central. I also get a seat everyday to work.

I live in a pretty decent area in 3 bed semi detached with over 100ft garden and can get to loads of great places by car as well.

London is great.

 

[Embattle]

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-19004353