Why don't people live close to were they work?
I know the answer and there are many but with the cost involved maybe people should consider that option.
It use to be that way 50 years ago.
On the farm, in Lancashire I went to, the farm laborer lived 200 feet from the farm. He looked like he was 80 years old but he was able to walk home after work.
2008 isn't 1908 thats for sure.
because we can't afford rents close to places of employment and the difference is so great, especially when you factor in council tax, that it's cheaper to run the old banger.
and the schools are better out here without having to go private or pay thousands/month in rent or mortgage. no need to worry about little Johnny going to Thug High to earn a diploma in knife-dodging and drug-dealing.
in 2008, that farmer is a tenant whose margins are being cut into by supermarkets demanding he provide to them at lower and lower costs or be unable to get rid of his commodity at all. his kids have seen him struggling to eek out an existence and emigrated to Australia, after all, there's nothing to inherit in the vast majority of cases since 70+% of British farmers are tenants.
after he dies, Mr Landlord realises he can try to find another sucker willing to do the job and that he, Mr Landlord, may have a tough time getting the rent out of him if foot and mouth or blue tongue comes in again or there's a wet year or floods.
or he can sell the land off to Mr Developer who just got picked up to be showcased on Property Ladder or Grand Designs to build 4 exclusive f*^& off huge luxury homes on the same parcel of land. Mr Developer will pay the landlord millions for this parcel.
which do you suppose Mr Landlord will chose?
or let's move to the city of 2008.
Mr Developer there realises he can earn far more profit on flats instead of housing built to accommodate more than a talking Potbelly Pig and his pet rabbit, even if those flats sit empty.
Mr Councillor also realises there's something in it for him, too. So instead of being strict about building housing for families so they can live closer to areas of work, he takes a thick brown envelope and Mr Developer gets permission to build 200 flats on a postage stamp and call them an opportunity in apartment living.
Mr BTL landlord also realises there's something in this for him, too. So he buys some of these flats from Mr Developer. His mortgage won't allow anyone who's even in partial receipt of housing benefit or whose income comes partially from Working Tax Credit or Child Tax Credit, so Mr and Mrs Working Poor won't be letting from him. Doesn't matter, even if it sits empty, it probably won't lose money so long as Mr BTL can pay the mortgage or business loan.
so Mr and Mrs Working Poor, who are ineligble for the limited amount of social housing available or face wait lists of years and possibly decades because they work and are together, need to start looking farther and farther afield for a place to live and join the trail along with Mr and Mrs Just Getting By and Mr and Ms We're-sick-of-living-with-inconsiderate-neighbours-on-all-four-sides-of us and Mr and Mrs-we-downsized-but-still-can't-afford-a-decent-ground-floor-flat/home-to-do-us-for-our-upcoming-old-age.
that, in a nutshell, is why more and more people no longer live so close to work.
