Social decline, where will it end ?
Discussion
Having moved from Stoke Newington in Hackney to St Albans just last weekend and knowing both these areas very well, I can say that nice areas are getting nicer and bad areas are getting worse.
Stoke Newington was a gentrified lardy dah part of London surrounded by rough areas but it has been dragged down hill in the past 2 years. Lots of scum bags around, a lot of drug consumption, muggings and benefit claimants with no desire to work just making a nuisance of themselves. Although we had a lot of fun there, it was time to get out.
A lot of inner city London is like this now unfortunately.
St Albans by contrast has just got nicer over the years. I grew up near there, and have frequented it a lot in recent years and it is at an all time high.
It could be the shock effect of moving from Hackney to St Albans, but my gosh, it's like being on another planet.
Stoke Newington was a gentrified lardy dah part of London surrounded by rough areas but it has been dragged down hill in the past 2 years. Lots of scum bags around, a lot of drug consumption, muggings and benefit claimants with no desire to work just making a nuisance of themselves. Although we had a lot of fun there, it was time to get out.
A lot of inner city London is like this now unfortunately.
St Albans by contrast has just got nicer over the years. I grew up near there, and have frequented it a lot in recent years and it is at an all time high.
It could be the shock effect of moving from Hackney to St Albans, but my gosh, it's like being on another planet.
Freds said:
During the 90's the Wife and I invested in to the buy to let market. Between 91 and 99 we bought nine properties, five in Leeds, four in Newcastle.
Do you think that lots of people purchasing multiple BTL properties has driven the average price to a point where many people have to rent and hence don't have the sense of pride they might have if they were home owners?Social decline surely relates to prosperity. The massive gap between the haves and have-nots is getting bigger. The wealthy can carry on buying multiple houses to make further profit whilst those trying to get off the ground don't have a chance at getting on the ladder because they have been priced out.
You want social improvement then you need to re-shape the balance. You can't sit there and criticize whilst profiteering from the poor.
You want social improvement then you need to re-shape the balance. You can't sit there and criticize whilst profiteering from the poor.
As others have mentioned, that is a horrible part of Leeds and always has been however, its does seam to have got worse. There is a lot more quality housing available in Leeds City Centre and other areas, so I am not surprised the professional tenants are moving out.
Leeds is a vibrant City with significant recent investment which is scheduled to continue. In contrast to LS9, areas such as Chapel Allerton and Meanwood have improved significantly over the past few years
Comparing Jesmond to LS9 is not a like for like comparison.
Leeds is a vibrant City with significant recent investment which is scheduled to continue. In contrast to LS9, areas such as Chapel Allerton and Meanwood have improved significantly over the past few years
Comparing Jesmond to LS9 is not a like for like comparison.
alock said:
Do you think that lots of people purchasing multiple BTL properties has driven the average price to a point where many people have to rent and hence don't have the sense of pride they might have if they were home owners?
I have agree that the BTL market has the driven the prices up, but only in more select areas. In LS9, the area I refer to above, there are 4 bed terrace houses on the market for £80k. A sense of pride ? That has nothing whatsoever to do with where you live, homeowner, tenant or personal wealth.
JuniorD said:
That's reassuring to know. This week on another thread I have been told that there is no poverty in the UK.
Our little collection of islands is quite the utopia it seems!
You are conflating different things, those are not the same thing. Poverty certainly does exist and is big problem. We are a long way from utopia. However the claim of Social Decline, that we seeing some reverse or fall of civilisation is bs.Our little collection of islands is quite the utopia it seems!
Freds said:
During the 90's the Wife and I invested in to the buy to let market. Between 91 and 99 we bought nine properties, five in Leeds, four in Newcastle. Having today agreed a price to offload the final two Leeds properties to an Indian bloke, it leaves me wondering where the social decline in Cities such as Leeds will end.
We've had some brilliant tenants down the years, mainly medical staff from the Leeds teaching hospital, however in more recent times the quality of applicants has deteriorated in to larger ethnic families on benefits, something I wasn't too keen on from the experiences a chap i know has had. Our most recent tenant departures, medical staff working unsociable shifts, have said they feel extremely unsafe and vulnerable walking the streets home or even using a taxi, females in particular have been followed, physically and verbally abused and even mugged.
I spent an hour at the properties in Leeds earlier today, off Harehills Road in LS9 if anybody is familiar, in one terraced street of circa 80 houses, three eastern European blokes were tearing a Skoda apart, basically breaking it for spares and stacking the doors against the house, there was engine oil all over the street and a child of about six rolling a driveshaft along the kerb, filthy from head to toe. Two 'kids' on bikes were clearly pedalling drugs on the street corner and two other scumbags about 18 years old asked me if I was 'the filth' and told me to f
k off, clearly unfazed by my 6ft 7 and 22 stones frame. I was relieved to strike a provisional deal with the buyer but annoyed and sad in a way at what these streets, once homes to decent hard working people have become, in short Ghettos. I dread to think what these places will be like in ten years time.
On a brighter note, we have no such problems in the Jesmond area of Newcastle where are tenants are all university students and for now at least the place seems reasonable. It's our intention to invest here from now on.
I used to own a property on Stanley Place about 20 years ago and the area was pretty bad even back then. The demographic of the area is the same now as it was then but on a grander scale which as usual explains why it's become a no-go area.We've had some brilliant tenants down the years, mainly medical staff from the Leeds teaching hospital, however in more recent times the quality of applicants has deteriorated in to larger ethnic families on benefits, something I wasn't too keen on from the experiences a chap i know has had. Our most recent tenant departures, medical staff working unsociable shifts, have said they feel extremely unsafe and vulnerable walking the streets home or even using a taxi, females in particular have been followed, physically and verbally abused and even mugged.
I spent an hour at the properties in Leeds earlier today, off Harehills Road in LS9 if anybody is familiar, in one terraced street of circa 80 houses, three eastern European blokes were tearing a Skoda apart, basically breaking it for spares and stacking the doors against the house, there was engine oil all over the street and a child of about six rolling a driveshaft along the kerb, filthy from head to toe. Two 'kids' on bikes were clearly pedalling drugs on the street corner and two other scumbags about 18 years old asked me if I was 'the filth' and told me to f
k off, clearly unfazed by my 6ft 7 and 22 stones frame. I was relieved to strike a provisional deal with the buyer but annoyed and sad in a way at what these streets, once homes to decent hard working people have become, in short Ghettos. I dread to think what these places will be like in ten years time. On a brighter note, we have no such problems in the Jesmond area of Newcastle where are tenants are all university students and for now at least the place seems reasonable. It's our intention to invest here from now on.
Edited by Freds on Wednesday 19th October 15:55
zarjaz1991 said:
Leeds, though, is an absolutely horrible city, and the aggression and threatening behaviour is just a normal part of city life there.
Rubbish. There are none of those issues where I am in north Leeds.Gassing Station | The Lounge | Top of Page | What's New | My Stuff