Turf the poor out of central London
FOR some reason I don’t understand there’s a number of people arguing that we shouldn’t be trying to get the poor people to move out of central London.
That is indeed what is happening though, the poor are moving out to the suburbs:
Outer London has seen rising levels of poverty while the number of poorer areas in central London is reducing, according to a new analysis of official deprivation data.
Although the poorest places in the capital are still in the eastern centre of the city, there are fears that poverty is being pushed out into the suburbs amid evidence of a significant increase in deprived areas in the outer boroughs between 2004 and 2010.
It’s that “fears” bit that confuses me. Central London is one of the most expensive places on the planet to live. So, umm, wouldn’t we actually like it if poor people went elsewhere and lived in a place that’s a little cheaper?
If they were living off their own low incomes then they’d find that they went a bit further without paying central London rents or mortgages. So, by moving, they’d be a bit less poor which would be a good thing.
And if it’s us paying their rents or mortages, then if they move then it costs us less in tax to pay their rents and or mortgages. Which would also be good.
So where does this “fear” come from? Isn’t poor people living in cheap places what we actually want to happen?
Image: 2–9 – Two men appear at the entrance to a property in Clarges Mews, west London, as squatters who took over a 22.5 million Mayfair house are kicked out.
Posted: 12th, April 2012 | In: Money Comments (5) | TrackBack | Permalink
