Pushed by pandemic, Londoners answer call of low-cost country life
People walk on a beach in Margate, England, in April 2020. The seaside resort town has seen an influx of young newcomers.
Andrew Couldridge/Reuters
Margate, England
Zoe Artingstall wakes up to the sound of the sea and a view of聽luscious golden sand. Police sirens and garbage collectors at the crack of dawn no longer disturb a good night鈥檚 sleep ever since she swapped London for Margate, a coastal town to the southeast, just weeks before Britain reintroduced new coronavirus restrictions.
鈥淲hen you鈥檙e in London you don鈥檛 realize the physical buildup of tension and the frenetic pace of life weighing on you. It鈥檚 only when you leave that you realize the toll London life has on your body,鈥� says Ms. Artingstall.
A growing thirst for quality of life, traditionally associated with retirees rather than 20- and 30-somethings, and reassessing life in lockdown accelerated her decision.
Why We Wrote This
The pandemic has led to a realization that it isn鈥檛 necessary to work in urban offices. And many are questioning the urban lifestyle entirely. Young Londoners are taking the opportunity to remake their lives in remote towns.
鈥淢y partner and I are in our early to mid-30s now, and you start thinking about clean air, healthier skin, and to not be up at 6 a.m. every day, rushing to get to work for 8:30 a.m.鈥�
The teacher-turned-artist is among a growing number of people under 40 leaving the metropolis of London, and other major British cities, for a slower pace of life. Dissatisfied with the squalid conditions and sky-high rents, they are taking advantage of being unshackled from the geographical requirements of their jobs by the pandemic to establish themselves in places better known for being suburbs, countryside, or old resort towns like Margate. And they are changing the character of their new homes, bringing little pieces of the metropolitan life with them.
Tamsin George left London spontaneously for Malton, near the Northern city of York, as the United Kingdom introduced a national blanket lockdown in late March. Unemployed and exhausted, Ms. George says the country air keeps her 鈥渁live鈥� without the 鈥渇renetic chaos鈥� of attending London events.
鈥淟ots of young people in London don鈥檛 want to be there but feel like they should. They see salaries and the opportunities you have; these are the things that keep people there,鈥� she says. 鈥淏ut you realize when these things are on pause that it鈥檚 not worth the money. People have taken lockdown as the push they needed to leave and lay out their priorities in life.鈥�
A longer term exodus
Renters increasingly look to York, Bristol, and the Home Counties, a southern region with greenery and poorer transport links. Those home-hunting in the capital now look to suburban, fringe areas. According to Rightmove, the U.K.鈥檚 biggest property search engine, Chessington, a sleepy suburban town with infrequent trains, is the capital鈥檚 new rental hotspot, trumping hip inner-London districts such as Shoreditch and Lewisham, where young professionals in their 20s and 30s typically gravitate after university.
Ms. Artingstall and her partner had been paying just under 拢1,400 ($1,860) per month for two London rooms in shared accommodation. Now they have a whole apartment with two studios used for artistic work, replete with a view of Margate beach, for just under the same sum.
Living in London鈥檚 typically congested areas is exactly what Laurie McAllister did after graduating from university. Disenchanted by work (鈥渟logging my guts out, what鈥檚 the point?鈥� as she puts it) and events centered around alcohol and fed up with 鈥渂ooking with friends months in advance just to see them鈥� pushed her to live in Norwich, East England, in her early 20s.
And she wasn鈥檛 alone. 鈥淲here I moved to East Anglia, there already were young people. It鈥檚 a myth that all the young people are in London. Lots never moved, or many moved for university and returned to live 鈥� if not in the countryside, in smaller cities.鈥�
Ms. McAllister now runs online motivational courses, yoga lessons, and a blog inspired by her sobriety after leaving London in 2017. Moving to Norwich allowed her to pay the bills and be a freelance yoga instructor, a path 鈥渦nviable鈥� in London.
鈥淭he idea that all the good jobs are in London and the only way to be successful is in London is dated. We鈥檙e now all realizing that with Zoom and other technology,鈥� she says.
Employment opportunities attract young renters to Cambridge. With average monthly rents of 拢1,319 鈥� that鈥檚 拢681 cheaper than London 鈥� software engineers between 18 and 40 years old in particular have moved to be near AstraZeneca and Microsoft offices. Sarah Bush, head of lettings at Cambridge-based property agent Cheffins, has noticed a shift in the past six months, with renters 鈥渟eeing space is important, gearing themselves up to work from home.鈥�
鈥淭he younger generation still want to be near to work. If they鈥檝e got to go into the office, there鈥檚 a reluctance to go into public transport and Cambridge is walkable,鈥� she says.
Londoners reshaping coastal communities
The growing influx of ex-Londoners has been so large in the past decade that locals give them a specific name.
鈥淭hey call us DFLs, or 鈥榙own from London,鈥欌�� says Matt Mapleston. Inspired by London鈥檚 tech scene, he鈥檚 opened a workspace for local freelancers inside a converted warehouse since moving to Margate in 2017. It鈥檚 part of a tradition of 鈥淟ondon ideas鈥� brought by DFLs since Margate鈥檚 Turner Contemporary art gallery opened by the seafront a decade ago, creating a thriving art scene in an area that older locals say used to be a no-go zone for outsiders.
The equivalent of three people per day relocate from London to Thanet, the area comprising Margate and Ramsgate. In 2017, some 1,830 Londoners relocated to Thanet, while 26,380 people overall moved from London to Kent, the county in which Thanet lies.
Living in Ramsgate since birth from London-born parents, 21-year-old illustrator Molly Pickles believes newcomers act as 鈥渋nvestors鈥� bringing 鈥渘ew ideas and huge benefits to locals.鈥�
Ramsgate has quickly grown into a celebrated music and festival venue. Margate, dubbed 鈥淪horeditch-by-Sea,鈥� saw an 84% increase in creative businesses last year. Locals are swept along by the regeneration spirit aided by ex-Londoners, but are also wary of the long-term consequences of an area equally split between DFLs and longer-term locals.
鈥淕entrification is the biggest topic on local minds,鈥� says Ms. Pickles. 鈥淭he majority of people who鈥檝e lived here since being a child can鈥檛 buy a property here.鈥�
鈥淭he primary positives of gentrification here is that it becomes attractive to outsiders for investment,鈥� says Filipe Gomes, a local radio presenter hoping to reach underrepresented voices in the area. 鈥淲e have to ask ourselves, how inclusive is that? Galleries look great on the seafront, but the young lad that鈥檚 grown up here, how much does he feel a part of that?鈥�
Ex-Londoners are well aware of the Catch-22 they bring. 鈥淚t鈥檚 a well-worn road when creatives find a new area. They start making it a different place to live and then others follow to live in the place made more desirable,鈥� says Mr. Mapleston.
But Lilla Allen, editor for local magazine Ramsgate Recorder and a self-described DFL, says that the newcomers do value the locals and are building bridges with them. 鈥淐ommunity is overused but it does exist and it鈥檚 healthy here between different people, young and old,鈥� she says. 鈥淪mall towns feel the impact immediately of new ideas, and there鈥檚 real pride around town.鈥�