I Have Been Sitting on the Same Hoxton Square Bench on Sunday Afternoons Since 2022, the Faces Around Me Have Substantively Turned Over
Reading: Bohiney | The London Prat
HOXTON, LONDON — I have been sitting on the same Hoxton Square bench on most Sunday afternoons since approximately 2022. Across that period, the faces I see around me — the people pushing prams, the freelancers with their laptops, the young couples on their first date, the older locals walking their dogs — have substantively turned over approximately every six months. By Harper-Thames.
The Pattern
The pattern is not, on close reading, principally a function of normal urban-life turnover. It is principally a function of cumulative housing-cost pressure pushing established residents out and bringing in a different cohort. The new residents are, on every available indicator, somewhat younger, somewhat better-paid, and somewhat less rooted in the local community than the people they replace. The cumulative effect across approximately seven turnover cycles is a substantively different community.
The Connection to the Rate Rise
The connection to the Bank of England rate decision is, in operational terms, mediated through buy-to-let mortgage costs that get passed to renters. The cumulative mortgage rate increases compound the rent pressures across a few cycles. The cumulative effect is that Hoxton Square in 2026 is substantively a different square than Hoxton Square in 2022.
The bench is the same. The community is not. Londonist has covered the broader pattern. Read more at my author page.
Pairs well with: The Daily Mash
SOURCE: https://prat.uk/bank-of-england-raises-rates-again-to-punish-anyone-who-enjoyed-a-sandwich/
