If you go into negative equity then buying may also be money going down the loo. Since nowadays it is unlikely most people will stay in one home all their lives it is really just beyond your control what would be better in the long term. Right now if you need a house what seems fullish is to buy.

Buying far from where you work my probe as expensive (have you seen those train ticket prices from the burbs? Add up the car costs because nothing is walking distance and the apparent savings you made go up in smoke) and it is certainly less environmentally friendly.

Our car costs in the suburbs were around £300 a month (it should be more now with the price of petrol, if anybody don't believe this sit down and do the maths: insurance, petrol, maintenance, it all adds up pretty quickly ), add the cost of 2 season tickets to commute to London (that is where the good jobs actually are) and you are talking about around £10000/year for the privilege to live in a place where there is nothing to do. Thanks but no thanks.


Now I live 10 minutes (walking) from my place of work. I am not stressed unlike when I used to live in the cultural wastelands that are the Surrey suburbs and I am spoiled for choice when it comes to shopping, entertainment and culture. Oh yeas, and we are saving a cool £6000/year since a yearly transport ticket costs £880 and we got rid of the car.

Crime? Please! I have lived in other 3 different countries in 3 different continents and visited many others in numerous occasions (not as a tourist but in medium term stints), London is immensely safer, but tabloid media need to hype up the bad news and many people unthinkingly fall for that.

Yes there are problems, no place is perfect, but the pluses are so overwhelming that is a no brainer for me.