Pop Brixton (formerly Grow Brixton) Pope's Road development

[Strangerdanger]

We would have certainly been pushed out of where we were living which is why I mentioned that we were lucky to buy when we did. Rental prices in Brixton are now similar to what we were paying back then in our tiny central flat.

I know loads of people moving further out - both homeowners and renters and I also know many people moving away completely. I have been in London for ten years and am originally from the Caribbean. Most of my friends from home have now moved back as the cost/standard of living is no longer worth it to them. Same with some of my English friend moving back up north and my Scandinavian friends. Cost of living in Sweden, Norway, etc is very high but what you get in return makes it worth it.

I never asked anyone for a pity party, obviously people on lower incomes with nothing to fall back will find it harder than others. I'm merely pointing out that London is very much shifting and whats happening in Brixton is a knock on effect, not the core of it.

 

[SpamMisery]

Also likely Strangerdanger and many others now find that if they need a bigger place (expanding family etc), the only option is to buy out of London because the value of the place they currently own has gone up so much it would not be affordable to them if they were looking to buy today. That is being pushed out; to me anyway.

 

[teuchter]

10 or 15 years ago, a lot of people who would have been living for a while in Brixton, renting in shared houses etc, would have a reasonable chance of buying here and thereby staying in the area they had made home, perhaps even able to find housing that would allow them to bring up a family. They would have been priveleged, even back then, relative to many of course, but now those same people can't afford to buy here so are moving further out or out of London. These are people with relatively good incomes. I think it is fair to say they too are being "pushed out". It's not exclusively those at the lowest end of the income spectrum who are finding they simply can't continue to live in an area they feel connected to. That's not to ignore that the hardship will be likely be felt more strongly the closer to the bottom you are.

 

[Strangerdanger]

Also likely Strangerdanger and many others now find that if they need a bigger place (expanding family etc), the only option is to buy out of London because the value of the place they currently own has gone up so much it would not be affordable to them if they were looking to buy today. That is being pushed out; to me anyway.

Exactly this. My husband and I are always staggered to think that we actually couldn't afford to buy our place right now. It's terrifying because it just cannot be sustainable what is happening.

 

[Lucy Fur]

Cllr Peter John (Southwark) makes clear who his priorities are:
"I think the real conundrum is how you help people earning good money – £60-£80,000 a year – but who have absolutely no hope of buying ... It's a London-wide problem and we do need London-wide solutions."

(cartoon separate from source of quote)

 

[Monkeygrinder's Organ]

Cllr Peter John (Southwark) makes clear who his priorities are:
"I think the real conundrum is how you help people earning good money – £60-£80,000 a year – but who have absolutely no hope of buying ... It's a London-wide problem and we do need London-wide solutions."

Fucking hell. A) What a cunt and B) that's total bollocks anyway - even in London someone making £80k per year can buy somewhere.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Also likely Strangerdanger and many others now find that if they need a bigger place (expanding family etc), the only option is to buy out of London because the value of the place they currently own has gone up so much it would not be affordable to them if they were looking to buy today. That is being pushed out; to me anyway.

That's living and dying by the market, for home-owners. There's an element of choice there that doesn't exist for those in social housing, who are being pushed out of their own communities.

 

[editor]

I don't have a problem with pop Brixton, I've been there a few times.

Of course, you don't. You didn't move to Brixton to get involved with community issues, so I see no reason why you should care about anything other than your own immediate needs. That's not a criticism, btw, just a statement of fact because that's what Brixton is turning into, despite its unique past. How many of the new faces in Brixton have supported the Cressingham residents? How many backed those residents in Carlton Mansions being thrown out after 25 years? Or the Arch traders?

Not their problem, you see. But they've got a nice 'affordable' home in a 'cool' area with great restaurants. I don't blame them either: that's just how things are across London these days. And it's as depressing as fuck.

 

[SpamMisery]

That's living and dying by the market, for home-owners. There's an element of choice there that doesn't exist for those in social housing, who are being pushed out of their own communities.

Absolutely. It's an unfair advantage and not easy to move from one financial situation to the next. But its not their fault. I think that people who fit into the category I described find it a bit aggravating to be called "nu-Brixtonites" who wontedly refuse to engage with the existing culture of the area; or get told they don't understand the plight of people on low incomes because they are lucky enough to be able to borrow money for a deposit; or that all they ever do is spend obscene amounts of money on cocktails whilst being in the most deprived ward in London. It's silly. It's a caricature.

 

[teuchter]

Strangerdanger please don't pay too much attention to those who seem to wish to establish some kind of moral superiority by insulting you with implications that unlike them you don't care about "anything other than your immediate needs" and don't let it put you off engaging on the forums here or getting involved with anything else locally.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Absolutely. It's an unfair advantage and not easy to move from one financial situation to the next. But its not their fault. I think that people who fit into the category I described find it a bit aggravating to be called "nu-Brixtonites"...

What you think on the subject is only important if you're one of the "nu-Brixtonites", otherwise you're merely projecting your own preconceptions onto them.

...who wontedly refuse to engage with the existing culture of the area; or get told they don't understand the plight of people on low incomes because they are lucky enough to be able to borrow money for a deposit; or that all they ever do is spend obscene amounts of money on cocktails whilst being in the most deprived ward in London. It's silly. It's a caricature.

Of course it's a caricature!

However, like all caricatures, it has a foundation in reality. Incomers have no reason to "understand the plight of people on low incomes", especially if it makes them feel even mild existential discomfort. Even if they do understand and empathise, most will still look to their own security over that of poorer locals.

And sure, in some cases - as with Strangerdanger - people are "lucky" in getting together a deposit and getting a mortgage, but that's some, not all. We've already seen just how keenly the developments in Brixton have been targeted at investors rather than home-owners, especially over the last 5 years or so. Lexadon is about the only developer locally that doesn't focus on that model, but rather on straightforward rental income to the developer.

 

[editor]

Lexadon is about the only developer locally that doesn't focus on that model, but rather on straightforward rental income to the developer.

And their record on providing (guffaw) 'affordable' rentals is hardly likely to put them forward for any philanthropy awards.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Of course, you don't. You didn't move to Brixton to get involved with community issues, so I see no reason why you should care about anything other than your own immediate needs. That's not a criticism, btw, just a statement of fact because that's what Brixton is turning into, despite its unique past. How many of the new faces in Brixton have supported the Cressingham residents? How many backed those residents in Carlton Mansions being thrown out after 25 years? Or the Arch traders?

Not their problem, you see. But they've got a nice 'affordable' home in a 'cool' area with great restaurants. I don't blame them either: that's just how things are across London these days. And it's as depressing as fuck.

As recent history shows us though, "cool" areas soon enough become blandified - it's inescapable when big retail follows the establishment of the new "cool" area, and turns it gradually into a clone of every other high street - and the pack move on.

 

[ViolentPanda]

And their record on providing (guffaw) 'affordable' rentals is hardly likely to put them forward for any philanthropy awards.

Well quite. "Affordable" rent in London has been a moveable feast for the last 8 years, since the previous Mayor decided that "affordable" equated to 75-80% of market rate.

 

[gdubz]

Strangerdanger please don't pay too much attention to those who seem to wish to establish some kind of moral superiority by insulting you with implications that unlike them you don't care about "anything other than your immediate needs" and don't let it put you off engaging on the forums here or getting involved with anything else locally.

What is inappropriate about that content?

 

[editor]

What is inappropriate about that content?

This. Take any further questions to the feedback forum please.

 

[gdubz]

What you think on the subject

This. Take any further questions to the feedback forum please.

ah ok - cross thread beef - I don't follow that one so apologies

 

[editor]

ah ok - cross thread beef - I don't follow that one so apologies

It has nothing to do with Violent Panda. My words were quoted, hence the warning.

 

[leanderman]

Also likely Strangerdanger and many others now find that if they need a bigger place (expanding family etc), the only option is to buy out of London because the value of the place they currently own has gone up so much it would not be affordable to them if they were looking to buy today. That is being pushed out; to me anyway.

Leander road is split three roughly equal ways.

The social tenants category is extremely stable, with hardly any turnover.

Private tenants ship in and out pretty quickly, usually within two years and often when their rents are hiked.

The third group, of owners, is fairly settled. Those who move on are usually young parents.

 

[gdubz]

It has nothing to do with Violent Panda. My words were quoted, hence the warning.

I didn't mean to quote vp - I struggle with technology generally and type with 2 fingers. Can apologise to him if necessary.

 

[ViolentPanda]

Leander road is split three roughly equal ways.

The social tenants category is extremely stable, with hardly any turnover.

Private tenants ship in and out pretty quickly, usually within two years and often when their rents are hiked.

The third group, of owners, is fairly settled. Those who move on are usually young parents.

IIRC you've got quite a few Housing Association properties on Leander (and on neighbouring roads, I believe), so you may find that stability going out of the window with HA tenants being granted their own version of Right to Buy. This is not necessarily to say it will happen, but I fully expect the parasitic wasps - property companies offering tenants a so-called "sweet deal" for a rent-free number of years - to swarm once the infrastructure for HA RtB is up and running - as happened from the '80s-onward with local authority RtB.

 

[ViolentPanda]

I didn't mean to quote vp - I struggle with technology generally and type with 2 fingers. Can apologise to him if necessary.

No problem.

 

[leanderman]

IIRC you've got quite a few Housing Association properties on Leander (and on neighbouring roads, I believe), so you may find that stability going out of the window with HA tenants being granted their own version of Right to Buy. This is not necessarily to say it will happen, but I fully expect the parasitic wasps - property companies offering tenants a so-called "sweet deal" for a rent-free number of years - to swarm once the infrastructure for HA RtB is up and running - as happened from the '80s-onward with local authority RtB.

Correct. Various HAs and some form of Lambeth.

One HA tenant told me he'd voted Tory because of this (lunatic) policy.

I wonder whether absurd prices will make RtB more difficult than before.

 

[teuchter]

ah ok - cross thread beef - I don't follow that one so apologies

It's not really cross thread beef, simply that some of us aren't allowed to dare criticise or respond to anything a certain poster says, under the premise that doing so amounts to disruptive behaviour (it only works one way though - fancy that!) If you want to find out more you can ask in the feedback forum where the mods will ignore your query and then close the thread to prevent further discussion. This process generally takes between about 12 and 24 hours, I find.

I'm happy to get a warning in this instance because I think that deploying snide, insulting and judgemental remarks against new posters who are not looking for a fight and who appear to be being honest about their situation is something that damages these boards.

 

[editor]

I didn't mean to quote vp - I struggle with technology generally and type with 2 fingers. Can apologise to him if necessary.

That's OK - no problem!

 

[gdubz]

It's not really cross thread beef, simply that some of us aren't allowed to dare criticise or respond to anything a certain poster says, under the premise that doing so amounts to disruptive behaviour (it only works one way though - fancy that!) If you want to find out more you can ask in the feedback forum where the mods will ignore your query and then close the thread to prevent further discussion. This process generally takes between about 12 and 24 hours, I find.

I'm happy to get a warning in this instance because I think that deploying snide, insulting and judgemental remarks against new posters who are not looking for a fight and who appear to be being honest about their situation is something that damages these boards.

Sorry - I should have used some quotation marks in my post - your post seemed reasonable but not sure why you were warned on one thread and it came through to another thread.

 

[gdubz]

No problem.

Sorry vp

 

[SpamMisery]

Sorry - I should have used some quotation marks in my post - your post seemed reasonable but not sure why you were warned on one thread and it came through to another thread.

I wouldn't try and question it if I were you; that way madness lies

 

[editor]

Here's a swishy video from a Pop Brixton trader.



Meanwhile, the Standard is all excited about Pop's £45 a head 'feast'

Pop Feast: Join a street food banquet in Brixton

 

[BigMoaner]

agree with what VP says about Cool. Is Brixton "edgy" and "cool" anymore?

Or is it seen as more a Clapham type area?

From what i can tell, i'd say the later.

the hipsters and "young creatives" will soon turn their nose up, and move on. but by then the damage will have been done. then it probably would have morphed into Clapham, or Clapham lite at best. maybe it already is.