Why is London Disappearing?

[@haltaylor]

There needs to be a rethink on business rates and how to encourage businesses to set up in these spaces.

[@aspiring...]

You are right. It's not like people don't want to start bussinnesses but the rates are crippling. The conspiracy theorist I me thinks this might be by design.

[@Alex-cw3rz]

Labour have said they will scrap them, which will be very helpful to the high street

[@Alex-cw3rz]

​@@aspiring... when you realise that business rates are higher in town centres than out of town centres, it doesn't need a conspiracy to realise the groups that will be lobbying the government to keep business rates. From Amazon to Supermarkets, business rates help you out and hinder our high street

[@adenwellsmith6908]

The other issue. Rates are to be paid before you've even made a sale. That's another factor. What's also happening, is working from home, and people are not buying in cafes, shops etc. They won't get that back easily On the pubs, that's policy. They have decided to destroy pubs.

[@highlandsprings5752]

@@aspiring... Just stop thinking and the problems go away lol.

[@corinneaggar9755]

After living in London for 70 years I’ve left because it’s too heart breaking, to watch my beautiful London destroyed because of greedy politicians

[@Emdep17213]

Greedy, ridiculous politicians have turned Britain into a racist, aggressive, terrible and hateful country.

[@dalia5378]

In the USA where I live, our politicians are worse!!

[@dzirisenior]

The west is in severe decline

[@alanyosores5642]

When the doctraines of colonizers pass to a wrong hand, then self destruction is next..because why they want to go other countries that hard to steal while they have easy to steal to their own soil😂😂😂😂

[@MrSeedi76]

It's not destroyed because of "greedy politicians" but because of property prices. That's called free market. Companies buy property because they hope it will become more valuable. Doesn't matter if anyone rents the place. What politicians need to do, is to make sure property in the city is used and not just bought for speculation. We have the same problem here in Germany, even in smaller towns with less than 100,000 inhabitants. The UK of course has also the problem of its citizens deciding to leave the EU for xenophobic reasons. And a pandemic. So how's this caused by "greedy politicians"? As bad as they are, they didn't cause this.

[@topaz3468]

Evidently the destruction of the middle class is in full swing in the UK, just as it is in the states where I am. I was a frequent business traveler to London for 30 years, and can't believe what is happening to these iconic places you are showing on this video. 🥺 Thank you for all of your efforts in filming this situation!

[@WLBarton4466]

Rent control and levy taxes in the billionaires is the only remedy.

[@claritadeluna6609]

I recently saw a video coming out of San Francisco where exactly the same situation is happening. This is happening everywhere 😮. Our governments have destroyed our economy and this is the outcome of years of hard work. Everything is collapsing in front of our own eyes.

[@cretinousswine8234]

The state has allowed private citizens to become more powerful and influential than the state itself, which represents all people in it.

[@ЮрийМоисеенко-ц9о]

@@cretinousswine8234 The state is represented by power elites. Today power is in the hands of elites from financiers. The success of a financier’s work is determined not by the quantity and quality of products produced, but by the amount of profit received. Any effective manager is concerned, first of all, with reducing costs. His headache is not about how to retain the unique engineering staff, but about why he should pay them high salaries when he can outsource this work? As financiers captured all the key positions in states, this logic took hold at the government level. The fall in industrial production does not hinder GDP growth. The withdrawal of production from the country is not perceived as a weakening of the economy. Bankers' incomes are growing! Globalism is the power of bankers, leading the world to the abyss with songs about democracy, freedom and equality. In reality, everything is exactly the opposite. By defending the opportunity to control global financial flows, they will ruin the industry of Europe, incite a bunch of conflicts, and burn the savings of ordinary people.

Camden was on the cusp of being chewed out in 2005, now it's pretty much all tat.

[@NotaCamelReallyImHuman]

The UK needs SERIOUS economic reform. The laws favouring the rich are killing this country.

[@thomasmezei3231]

It's not only the rich Mike, the UK has had it too good for too long. The time has come for the UK to crash, gone are the days of the commonwealth and stolen prosperity. Time to face the grim reality of being out in the cold with no one for economic support.

[@tayachting6345]

The laws favouring the rich and the lazy and entitled are killing this country.

[@imranramzan1795]

Working from home, banks closing, online shopping all contributed to closure

[@hobbes7460]

Not just your country, all countries worldwide!

[@user-vp6cq4sv3d]

​@@tayachting6345"Lazy and Entitled" Benefits Scroungers? Like the Royal Family?

[@rayray117]

Going back to central London after this video, I now noticed all the closed shops I never realised before.

[@aurorerich]

When you start paying attention to something, you can often be shocked by how common it is. I started counting the empty shops in one of the main but small streets in Bruges here and I counted 12 in one short street. Antwerp, same, almost all (luxury) and ambient shops are gone in the center.

[@edwardt2417]

Ex Londoner here. I left the country 18 years ago, and every so often get nostalgic about moving back. Watching this is so sad, and is probably part of what my friends there are telling me that the country has changed and isn't what it was when I left.

[@life107familyfitnessboxing8]

The UK is finished

[@squeaker19694]

So sad, it had such a lovely culture and beauty.

[@daMillenialTrucker]

@@life107familyfitnessboxing8 its because they've gone woke, letting in a bunch of radical muslims, telling boys they can be girls, and taxing the hell out of ya'll. im an american and im seeing this, the western governments want us to suffer, there has to be change

[@stjut]

Me too I left in 2005 and got nostalgic about moving back, a case of grass not being so green. What I left is no more.

[@zakdee2732]

Where did you peeps go and what's it like there? I'm trying to find somewhere good to move to.

[@Rubicon1985]

Useful tip - if you want to see what London looked like previous years you can go on street view and it has a brilliant option under search which says "See more dates" and you can jump back in time

[@itscooldawgdonteventrip]

thanks mate

[@estebantia2413]

Never knew that ... Thanks for sharing!

[@sunstardrummer]

Yeap.Shocking to see.

[@rockstar78970]

for example, the oldest footage is the year 2007/08, those were the golden days of the city, lots of businesses and people walking around, pretty much reasonable prices and looked mostly British, now it's full of immigrants 😕

[@Matty12333]

Tories have a lot to answer for

[@midgecooper1772]

I remember when I worked at my local council and business owners would ring up because they were struggling/behind with business rates and a senior colleague would say, 'Well it's a luxury to have a business!' What nonsense. Having a business is a risk and it gives local people jobs. There is zero sympathy from local government.

[@sugipulaboule9]

You mean grubbment. Pay CASH Everywhere you go, No kard or phone payment whatsoever people, ditch the phones and JUST SAY NOOO.

[@nataliam9764]

That the Socialist mentality. Disgusting.

[@zerotoleranceforsataniceli4794]

Your "senior colleagues" were either ignorant or were globalists, who want the destruction of the small man and the small business . I hope you have this colleague a piece of your mind before you left

[@karmatraining]

Investments always carry risks. What is the alternative? Risk-free investment?

[@macairhead5137]

@@karmatrainingyou entirely missed the point. The point is government greed and sheer ignorance make these problems. These aren’t part of ‘risks’. This is stupidity and ideological twattery by local government.

[@ukkendoka]

I am British by birth, but have since left country, because I could see this coming. Respectfully, I have read some of the comments below this video, but none of them get to the real cause. They just stop at the surface, blaming the politicians, or the rich, or landlords etc. Since 2008 and the pandemic, there has been a massive increase in the money supply, basically to bail out the banks and the economy. 60% of all dollars in existence were created in the last 4 years. The effect was to debase the value of money and as the value of money fell, asset prices seemed to rise dramatically, because the measurement was falling in value. We feel this now as inflation. Secondly, investors, keen to protect themselves, rushed into assets and Stocks, Housing, Crypto etc went up. Those that could not protect themselves got poorer or went bankrupt. Each time this happens only the big corporations survive (Tesco, Amazon, etc) and all the little retailers get screwed. The problem is that the central bankers can create money, expending zero effort and time, whilst we work and expend our limited time and effort for this money that loses value. At 120% debt to gdp, the central bankers are printing money just to pay the interest on the debt they have accumulated. Meanwhile fiscal spending by the politicians is out of control. They have no choice but to print money and we will pay for this with inflation. Whilst the money is broken this situation will get worse in all countries (some more than others). Meanwhile, the central bankers are happy that we point fingers at each other, because we do not see the real reason behind it all. Unfortunately, almost every time this has happened in history, this has ended with war, the collapse of the incumbent monetary system, after which a new system rises from the ashes. I hope for our sake it does not come to this and more people get educated on what is really going on. Love and peace to you all.

[@pippasessment1]

very interesting...thanks for taking the time to post that information.

[@clementtw]

So where did you leave for? What you described seems to happen everywhere in the world.

[@ukkendoka]

@@clementtw Like I said, "Whilst the money is broken this situation will get worse in all countries (some more than others)"....I left for a country, where the effects shouldn't be as bad, but it is true I think it will be impossible to completely avoid it. Where I moved to has better weather, work-life balance and better demographics.

[@clementtw]

@@ukkendoka still curios on the country choice. I am a Taiwanese. Demographic here will be nightmarish after 20 years.

[@heliotropezzz333]

I am British by birth but I have stayed. I can't abandon the place because I love family, friends, London, Britain and the UK, the culture, nature, the temperate climate, the kindness and humour of the people.. Can't detach from those roots without missing them forever.

[@chrisd5964]

Astonished by the empty units in the centre of Covent Garden. You can’t just blame online shopping for this, it’s an economy in big trouble.

[@Anon1370]

yep the economy is in big trouble alright

[@brianjones4026]

yes it is and we are still shipping them in to live in hotels and all the rest ! What a Nightmare to see your capital city in tatters, dysfunctional policing by rainbow kneeling sorts and Covent Garden dead as a Dodo !!

[@PeacockRhino]

Too easy for Labour to blame Brexit and the Tories the civil service than to have uncomfortable conversations about how we turn the country around.

[@Anon1370]

@@PeacockRhino thats why we need a new government to reform everything the two top partys don't work good.

[@stevehaddon151]

​@@brianjones4026wtf has any of that got to do with exorbitant rents ya tool

[@styleyK]

Loving this series because you are showing the real face/state of the UK that the majority of us experience on a daily basis (not what our corporate media and government, want to talk about or show the rest of the world). You are doing a public service young man, but watch yourself because a certain section of society won't like it. Don't let noone hold you back. All power to ya 🙏🏿

[@johnn17golf]

Same worldwide, not just London or UK. We need to focu to the real wealth creators - the working forlk who breate the goods and services and are the consumers as well. All this focus on making the corporations and even smaller business happy is not how you build an economy. You build a successful economy from the wealth creators UP.

[@nkhamoza1]

I'm in Zambia Africa. My Mom and I want to open a shop and we can't believe the cost of the retail rental spaces. We don't understand how anyone can afford it. It's true it's the whole world, that 1% are taking everything. It's alarming!

[@aluna_m888]

So sad 😢 the reality is depressing !!!

[@kampai71]

But MacDonald doesn’t seem to have any problem with thriving. Anywhere anytime! Is it true that when Londoners elect city authorities the City of London (the banking district) is excluded??? The City elects its authorities from the banks?!

[@miamitten1123]

Central London (even when buzzing) seemed boring, pretentious, hipster and touristy to me. Notting Hill, Wandsworth, Lambeth even South Croydon, Wallington seemed much better places to hang out.

[@WeekendsOutsideFL]

The reason these videos are so good to watch is because many of us have next to nothing in assets, are stuck in low pay jobs, with zero options for upward movement. So when we come online and see that we are not alone in this decay, it is soothing because you don’t feel like it’s your own fault anymore e

[@midwestlakelife]

This is so true. You are not alone. So many of us out here struggling.

[@etienne8110]

It can still be your fault if you ate voting tories... In a democracy, our condition is the result of the elections... So at some point, most of the people are voting to create this misery.

[@jimp1646]

@@etienne8110 The elections are a two horse race. Both the Tories and Labour have a record of implementing policies that are detrimental to society. It's highly likely Labour will win the next election. Guess what's going to happen to rent prices when Labour forces more private Landlords out of the rental market? People will not be voting for higher rents, but that's what they will get with Labour.

[@markg3683]

@@etienne8110 It's not only the Tories. Remember that half the rates go directly to the local governments, which in most cities are Labour controlled. The other half is redistributed to councils by the national government. They both waste money like crazy.

[@etienne8110]

@@markg3683 except they don t have a say on the rates... The ones making the laws are the only ones with real power. And they ve been tories for a few decades....

[@Rogue_Leader]

The problem isn’t rates or even rents - it’s land values. Almost all of the land you walked on is owned by the Duke Of Westminster who has hoarded 10 billion quid, and sets the land rents. When the 6th Duke died, his son paid no inheritance tax on the £9.9 billion inheritance.

[@keithtomey5046]

​@@thedrummerboy1215The Normans in fact.

[@wplains]

Yeah how dare the British won their own land!

[@pfranks75]

@@wplainsYou’re funny, I was shocked when on a bus tour passed through the city. I couldn’t believed my eyes!

[@DrewTillman-tr4ex]

Knew that Britain was on the downside economically but had no idea london was hit so hard. Just compare the strength of Germany to what's happened to england.Must be very embarrassing for londoners to have tourists witness what's happening to some of the best parts of their city. Very much like what's happening here in the states in wealthy cities like San Francisco and others.

[@Ramtin-Blue_rose]

After all, I think you have learned your lesson. Which is ... French were right about thier monarch in 1792. 🔪🔪👑. American revolutionaries were on the right side of history. Soviets were based to say hello to the Tsar and his disgusting family in 1919. And what would Brits do I wonder......

[@timcastle1844]

Congratulations. It's about time someone talked about the cost of rentals for shops. Most of the conversation concerns, "The cost of wages" but the costs of doing business, outside of wages, is ignored.

[@thehammer9599]

Who would have thought that -closing down the economy for two years -paying people to sit on their arse -treating people like taxable commodities -inviting the 3rd world to prop up pensions … would have fkd the nation?

[@marie-ctunnicliff513]

This is just heart breaking, I worked in London in the 60s - it used to be such a vibrant place , I'm so glad that I experienced it how it used to be! I shall never go to London again, but live with my memories.

[@BoganDoleBludger]

Did you go UFO club and saw Pink Floyd with Syd Barrett? Please say yes.

[@marie-ctunnicliff513]

Regrettably not! If only...@@BoganDoleBludger

[@Objectified]

It's happening in Seattle and SF because of the mass shoplifting and the refusal of the cities to prosecute a variety of crimes, or to clean up the homeless encampments they allow to occupy large areas. When key stores like Targets and grocery stores close it massively reduces the foot traffic that helped keep nearby stores alive, and they eventually close.

[@Andromeda_CT86]

I have the best memories of my last 30 years visiting London frequently. Its still incredibly vibrant. It's my favourite city, especially in the summer.

[@HenryJoy]

I managed betting shops in Denmark St.Oxford St..all over Soho. Brilliant back then

[@qTnationX]

After having my restaurant/cafe since 1991 (passed down from my father) based in zone 2 of London i will unfortunately be closing the doors for the first time in January and moving on. The UK does not support small businesses and bigger businesses too it always seems they are against us when we provide so much for the community its sad, they charge us for every little thing, tv license, bin collection, and council tax the list goes on lets not forget the rise in stock (food) prices, buying products you just can not make profit anymore!! All the council seems to care about is building flats and houses to gain more profit, every little space they find the council goes ahead and builds flats🤦🏻‍♂️ THE UK is finished!

[@donkeydan5996]

Same over here in the states , so sorry you have to close up. I had a restaurant 15 years ago and it was hard then , can’t imagine now

[@Mrc172]

TV license leaves me shaking my head. Why the hell should you need a license to watch TV. I live in Australia and like the U.K we used to have them. When we elected a Labour government in the early 70s (the first since 1949) the license was abolished in 1974.

[@oceania68]

@@Mrc172 Abolished 18 September 1974, to be closer to the date, by the Whitlam Government. The Fraser Government in 1975 tried to reintroduce the licensing but thankfully failed due to the huge backlash.

[@MeiinUK]

Whereabouts are you in zone 2 ? I hope you won't give up so easily without a fight first.. good producers like Unilever are dominating the entire globe. The food companies like Compass are also to blame too. I hope you won't actually give up just yet... Not just yet. Cos I hate some of the imported food items etc.... as they can often be contaminated and we won't know ?....

[@franglais-riders]

It’s everywhere sadly.

[@mermaidzombie23]

I'm originally from London and this is the first i'm seeing of London since i last went home in early 2021 and i'm shocked by covent garden. I'm shocked by a lot of the uk and the rapid changes that i've seen - everywhere seems to be losing it's life and soul. I live in Leeds now and the same is happening here. Gone are the days !

[@theverycreativegan]

I visited Barcelona in March this year and I travelled around the entire city and I didn’t see one large, medium or small independent shop closed. It was completely buzzing with people and business was booming everywhere. It was like Covid had never happened. The difference is in how the country is run and the breaks the business get. Business’s in UK is on its knees because of pure greed. Who benefits?

[@tigritsa74]

Exactly. Stop illegal immigration and everything will be ok for your own people.

[@tigritsa74]

It’s not the rich who are at fault

[@darrencavanaghfilmdirector]

Poor landlords? Please!

[@brentsrx7]

Yes, greedy beurocracy that creates no value in your society destroyed business and job opportunities for everyone.

[@robertdaloia1048]

The NWO...

[@benjaminmoogk3531]

Like many problems, this isn’t limited to the UK. A visit to New York City or Paris shows the same problem. Property tax rates are tied to property values, but property values have become detached from their income potential. In part, the few, who are extremely wealthy, living in the centre do not shop there. The number of middle income earners who commute into and spend their wages in the centre has also fallen.

[@morghetoofun2979]

Global nightmare caused by Global...

[@marilynvallance]

Just accept Brexit is the main cause. It’s not happening in Madrid.

[@reginamemoriesforever-vc8ql]

Enjoy your massive EXPENSIVE government which sustains itself with ridiculously high taxes and a manipulated inflated currency. Plus, your a-cultural multiculturalism that is not attractive at all and destroys the bonds between people and dilutes the character of your country

[@yfomenko]

Not in Moscow. Some western companies left, but new ones came. Everything is working fine.

[@shyft09]

Paris seems fine to me (London is all freehold owned by a few landlords, that's the difference IMO) Ever wonder why the landlords of those empty properties in London don't just reduce the rent until they find someone? Because that's only 5% of their inventory, They care about the inflated rents they are forcing all their other clients to pay

[@SomeoneBeginingWithI]

this is the first piece of media I've seen actually explain what business rates are and how high they are. thank you. The problem makes a lot more sense to me now.

[@malcolmmcphee2582]

I am a yorkshire man, that worked in London. I know the areas you walked fairly well. Covent garden used to be ramed with people. Shops and restaurants and pubs and bars. This is not a slowing down of the economy. It's a fully planned destruction of our society, they destroying the UK to its death. I live in thailand now for the past four years. I returned to England on the 2nd of this month, after not returned in that time. I flew back to Bangkok after only 5 days. The country is in such a dark way these days. So many bars, restaurants, and pubs that used to be so busy. Now many only open wednesday to sunday. Many not even open week day lunch times. Some only open friday to sunday evenings only. I witnessed big restaurant bars at 1pm, with as many as only 3 customers in. I just had to get out again. Unfortunately! just see how much destruction next year will bring. By the way i was in Preston Lancashire. England the Uk, European countries, the U. S. The Whole world is being destroyed.

[@UnimportantAcc]

Out of interest, do you work in Thailand? I've been looking to emigrate to Asia, but it is not easy as my qualifications would not recognised out there!

[@GrantHarri]

100 percent agree brother I moved to Mexico 2 years ago I cannot watch and be around what’s going down in the uk❤

[@marktyler3381]

Harder when you're from London.

[@malcolmmcphee2582]

@@UnimportantAcc It is not easy to work in Thailand. You can only do certain jobs.

[@llanieliowe794]

haha its shit in Bangkok for women though, so I still love the uk even if its been facing troublers since covid and the tories

[@laurence2824]

It brought a lump to my throat seeing what the West End is becoming. I used to work in Soho during the '80s and '90s. There was a lovely local community there with a fishmonger, greengrocers and butchers' shops. Plenty of lovely little Italian places too where you could grab a cannelloni and an espresso for a couple of quid. All that is gone now, taken over by post-production companies and editing suites. It's amazing to think that if you were a bit skint back then, and needed to rent a pad, Soho was considered cheap and cheerful. I'm so glad I experienced London in its gorgeous, slightly tatty, prime, while it still had a heart. Foreign oligarchs and multimillionaires seem to have transformed it into something unrecognisable.

[@ZombieSexmachine]

The lockdowns and high taxes are what's shutting them down. So government did it.

[@fungus_am0nguz644]

Dude ive been going to London since the late 90s and i try to go every year to visit friends there. I went this year '23 after my last time there in 2019 and couldnt believe how much it had changed. Like is different when you visit a city and you go there to party, go to restaurants, shop a bit, go sightseeing, its all fun. This last time i went it felt depressing, in SoHo blocks and blocks of boarded up closed shops, in fkn SoHo and Covent Garden, i was like wtf, there's soooo many of them. Of course rent prices are insane these days but a lot of big cities are the same but dude what a depressing site it was seeing all those prime places boarded up

[@tenabarnes3269]

Look up the cities of Seattle Washington, Portland Oregon, Los Angeles , Oakland, Sandiego, and Sanfrancisco, California, these places look the same and worse than London, there are many other left leaning larger cities and states that are on their way there. The problem is spreading coast to coast. Also look up Toronto , Canada, Vancouver, Canada, Perth and Sydney, Australia, and cities in Germany, Brazil. This same agenda is happening all over the world and is by design, this plan is the masterminds of the World Economic Forum in action and all of the current government leaders have been bought and are owned.

[@janpacana6293]

​@@tenabarnes3269 Wrong. 71 % of the USA's economy are in Democrat cities, counties and states. Republican states. 9 of the 10 poorest states 10 of the 10 states with the lowest monthly salary Lowest in education, Lowest in healthcare

[@Objectified]

@@janpacana6293Thank you for demonstrating your ability to be duped by statistics without context. You undoubtedly believe the "blue states pay for red states" derp as well despite the fact that it's not only been disproven, it's been shown that the return on federal tax dollars in those states tends to be superior. "Poorest" states? Arkansas' poverty rate is 16%. California's poverty rate is 12.5%. New York's poverty rate is 13.6%. If you want to hang your hat on such relatively small differences, that's on you - especially when those differences in those southern red states are largely due to the high number of people living in rural areas. You want to compare the poverty rate of blue-state inner cities with rural areas? As of 2023, red states comprise about 40% of the U.S. GDP with 46% of its population. Lower healthcare goes hand in hand with poverty rates. You can get world-class healthcare in any U.S. state and in most larger U.S. cities. The difference is in the affordability of health care, which disproportionately harms the poor. Guess which racial cohort is far and away the largest group of poor?

[@pauljack3183]

I lived in London for 15 years...i left when i realized that they were going to make it disappear!!! It started with the music venues, old pubs, shops... Prices for everything went up the stars, insane...i visited two years ago and i couldn't recognise my beautiful London...it s gone...all that's left are memories

[@LexxLarsD]

Visited a few years ago , couldn’t be bothered to enjoy , just got on the Gatwick express to airport and left forever to Spain .

[@TigerBoyX15]

I was so lucky to live in London when I did...I weep now..for what has happened..🌹

[@heliotropezzz333]

@@LexxLarsD The only advantage Spain has is the weather, and perhaps the food.

[@Orwic1]

@@TigerBoyX15same here.

[@judyhouy5578]

@@TigerBoyX15it seems like karma has happened to England in general. All those horrible years that England controlled their colonies. Now the English must pay the price of karma and suffer as they made everyone else suffer!!!

[@richardhoward7503]

I grew up in a bustling East End. Markets were everywhere and thriving. I lived overseas for decades and only came back ten years ago. 'My' East End is now just blocks and blocks of soulless flats, many unoccupied. It's heartbreaking.

[@linmal2242]

And now talk is of population decline. You seeing it already ?

[@PMMagro]

it is big business at work. For corporations best not local peoples.

[@stardust0805]

it's all about concentration of capital, big players don't want the average person to have significant financial resources because it gives them independence. The concentration of capital takes place in many fields and does not only apply to real estate, it also applies to the food sector, large food concerns buy small companies or factories in order to stop prosperous businesses from growing.

[@johncharleson8733]

Top comment.

[@EconomiasocialMatheusBarros]

It occurs in all fields but profits concentrate on the real estate because rent seeking is just so much easier than setting up new businesses or even opening up new locations for an existing business, and it's also the easier way for foreigners to invest in a country with regulations they are not familiar with. And profit and appreciation is more certain especially when the government doesn't put no counterbalances to put brakes to it.

[@alanyosores5642]

When the doctraines of colonizers pass to a wrong hand, then self destruction is next..because why they want to go other countries that hard to steal while they have easy to steal to their own soil😂😂😂😂

[@fiqhonomics]

Government should provide retail space on a cost covering basis

[@fiqhonomics]

Limited liability, on which corporations are based, was considered a sin and caused a moral outrage in the church upon inception in Europe 400 years ago (Piketty, 2014)

[@JasRoss]

It is not only crushing business owners, but consumers as well. Visited a friend in London a couple weeks back and paying nearly 8 pound a pint. Who has the money for a night out? Not the rare night out, but what we used to do in the 2000s. Finish work, meet at the local with friends, grab a bite to eat. We did this multiple times a week without breaking the bank. I earn considerably more now than back then, but I would never be able to afford that social life today. Kills business, kills consumers, and most importantly kills communities.

[@frankiesayrelax100]

the Globalists have destroyed "Nights Out" and Bar Culture Everywhere. Even when you can afford it, everyone else is hesitating to just go out spontaneously and socialize.

[@PORRRIDGE_GUN]

Yet the pub trade publicity is telling us the average price of a pint in London is £4.30. If that's true, then JD Wethespoons is doing a lot of heavy lifting. But even their pubs are only as half as busy as they were before the pandemic.

[@Matty12333]

@@PORRRIDGE_GUNSpoons always do well and it's no suprise. Only pub I would go to in London

[@mankyraver]

Wow! 8 quid a pint is insane!! We used to get jugs of beer from Cheers bar at Piccadilly for a fiver, or a jug of cocktails for a tenner at O bar in Soho. Those were super nights out after work. We'd party until 2am, dash home for a few hours sleep, get up for work at 7, and then meet up after work again for more. The streets were packed with people at that time. I went to Soho in 2012 and was shocked to see how deserted it was. Now it's completely dead😔

[@Daz8276]

I was born in the East End (Forrest Gate), and lived in London until the age of eight. Many happy memories from feeding the ducks in Hide Park, going to the museums with Dad, and feeding the pigeons in Trafalgar Square. I returned to live and work in South Kensington in 97, moved back home to Cornwall thereafter, but have tried to visit every summer. I've always loved London, the vibe, the hustle and bustle, the many businesses! But I have to say that the city I loved has slowly disappeared to the point I don't now recognise it. It seems that one of the oldest and greatest cities in the world is slowing dying! Let's hope that this can be turned around!

[@goldwhitedragon]

Diversity says nope.

[@Emppu_T.]

Khan!!

[@xc43t]

@@goldwhitedragon Is this about diversity though? You could blame your average Pole or an immigrant from some African country but in reality a lot of properties are owned by some international management institutions that are owned by the top 1% percent. In case of UK there is always a factor of the old money. Other parts of Europe got rid of nobility at least partially. UK is still majorly silly in this regard.

[@ottohashmi]

​@@goldwhitedragonhas fuck all to do with diversity

[@goldwhitedragon]

@@xc43t races are not interchangeable

[@TXF9a]

My God, that is bleak. I remember the song Ghost Town by the Specials but never thought the lyrics would ever apply to the capital. Still, happy to see Rose Morris are still in business. Many fond teen memories of dropping in on Saturdays to have a go on the synths that I couldn’t afford. Loved that place.

[@brendanclarke8393]

Loved terry he knew 😢

[@SilliusSodus]

The commodification of housing has shafted the working man/woman into oblivion. Last time you could actually buy a house was in the 90’s. Only problem was the wages were lousy too.

[@triptwo425]

that would make my piss boil. I would sack her@@UberFoX

[@MamaRebelle]

True, my house was £48,000 in the 90s a standard Victorian terrace, after separating I could afford the mortgage as a single mother. ( although I’ll be paying till I’m 70) The equivalent now would be over £200,000 for a young couple. My daughter and partner have a decent income but will not be able to get on the housing market without a lottery win

[@johnross2924]

35 grand for my first house in 1989

[@MamaRebelle]

@LotharFriedrichFreiherrvon I’m housebound disabled so I live online and I’m happy 😃

[@johnross2924]

@LotharFriedrichFreiherrvon I own nothing now and Im as miserable as f*ck. Not sure where they get the "we will be happy" bit from 😂

[@nmart1n]

For The Strand and Covent Garden, you can tell this is down to reduced tourism and massive rent and rate hikes. I used to visit The Tea House. Seeing it closed made me a bit sad. The government needs to take responsibility for the fact that they have scared people away from coming here for tourism or to live. They have also set no caps on rent. Landlords are charging huge amounts for rent and councils for rates. Getting people to go back to work in the centre will make a small difference but not much. Most people can’t afford the fares anymore or to buy things when they’re there.

[@bluceree7312]

Exactly. Choose a pub, any pub, in any area, and it would be clear to see that in 2019 on a Wednesday afternoon the chances are it would be busy with after work office people getting a pint or two before taking the train home. Now they all work from home and your chosen pub is probably empty.

[@Robert-A-R]

I agree with the majority of what you’re saying - but net migration into Britain last year was 745,000, so they’re not really being frightened off coming to live here.

[@IKTGWIW]

@@bluceree7312 So, work from home results in drink at home which, for some, could mean drink at work at home🤠

[@nmart1n]

@@Robert-A-R You would have to believe those numbers were real, plus they don’t take into consideration or ever talk about people leaving. I was really thinking about people who might move for work and/or with a view to buying property and settling.

[@Robert-A-R]

@@nmart1n apparently that 745,000 figure is NET migration into Britain - they have taken into account the number of people who have left

[@gauloise6442]

These buildings are all owned by private equity firms with tons of cash, if they rent out at low rents, the property values go down, so it is better for them to have empty shops and keep property values up, then to get the best rent they can.

[@brucknerian9664]

How can the property be worth anything at all when they're empty and no one willing to rent the space? Value is zero. Private equity firms keep pretending they're worth something only to keep their shareholders from panicking and to stave off the inevitable bankruptcy proceedings. The CEOs don't want to tarnsih their over-inflated resumes ... there are lots of CEOs resigning because they see the collapse that's looming. Economists have been predicting it for the last coupld of decades. Politicians are only fueling it like never before.

[@slevinlucky3240]

@@brucknerian9664because buildings usually contain offices as well residential and it’s only retail stores. So if retail is empty but rest is let out at market rate then it’s ok.

[@Balint-y7s]

​@@brucknerian9664they can write off the loss of rent against their taxes

[@JDevlinAccySide]

Im lost for Words... I always thought i dont want to leave our shore's but its becoming more and more relevant im not going to Die on this Island. Godbless UK God bless everyone whos struggling. Amen

[@gerrardhession2272]

WT - you are now the real time English historian . Putting context on the state of the nation . Keep it up please .

[@julietrudgill9887]

Ex Londoner here. My family had stalls in Leather Lane Market, near where the Old Holborn tobacco warehouse was, Gamages Department store, Hatton Garden, Fleet Street. That market used to be heaving in the 1960s, as were all London markets. As soon as a place gets gentrified or corporate, authenticity dies.

[@richmaniow]

Yep, lots of nice smart looking shops nobody can afford to rent.

[@demographicsisdestiny]

And mass immigration right?

[@Quincycle]

London has been irriversibly changed by mass immigration

[@juansantana8448]

Welcome to the future. It is not just London, San Francisco, and other cities around the country are suffering the same issue, closed shops, the homeless moving in, graffiti in the windows, well, you all know the rest.

[@we8608]

The homeless moving in is an oxymoron. Wtf are you talking about?

[@davianoinglesias5030]

The homeless ain't moving in, they've been our neighbours and relatives, they just couldn't afford their rent anymore

[@Vijay.1234-h3j]

In India it's opposite 😂

[@Vijay.1234-h3j]

Many new futuristic cities are being built in india

[@IsmaelCRUZ-oy4ph]

its the big reset they want and need. This isnt a conspiracy, private central banks borrowed money at crazy interest rates and wants all these business and mortgages to fall through. so when the bubble bursts the bankers that get new money first will buy up all the assests cheap.

[@davidmycroft3917]

I've been living abroad for well over 30 years, but when I was there, home was N8, NW3 & NW5. Hampstead was full of very high priced tat,but Crouch End had a Butcher, Baker, not sure about a Candlestick Maker. The Cypriot Green Grocer at the end of Elder Avenue was a delight, plenty of Boozers full of joyous West Indians playing Dominoes. I daren't go back. It started with "There is no such thing as Society" thatcher & has just got worse & worse. Cry fat salty tears for Sacred Albion, it is no more.

[@mikedennington8856]

It is the same all over the world, Vancouver, Toronto, Sydney, Melbourne, Berlin, Rome. It seems to be a cultural shift toward online and lack of good politicians in the area with any ideas on what to do. A closed shop produces zero rates, zero tax and hence the tax burden increases on the other shops, a stupid spiral of devastation.

[@ladylaois8184]

NWO in full swing

[@gmc9451]

​@@ladylaois8184judging by the comments on here people still don't get what's going on. Spot on re NWO.

[@Scientist538]

Productivity heads to zero when both parents have to work as there is no time for women to make a home and raise a family and not enough wages for men to work and provide as the breadwinners, it's causing a demographic crisis and no amount of native soft genocide/replacement migration will solve it, the real solution comes out of nationalist left wing and pro-native social policy combined with right wing neoliberal regulation, and economic freedom reforms but both the leftists and right wing politicians in power in the west are seemingly all globalist and anti-nationalist.

[@llanieliowe794]

Yh its not just a uk problem

[@Pyjamarama11]

This is what happens when people vote for their politicians based on what's between their legs, instead of what's between their ears

[@MrKiar1611]

Came from HongKong and recently moved to London, i found there are a few things make me hesitate to open up a shop even I planned well and got my money ready. 1) license+ permit : way to many and complicate to obtain and they cost a fortune 2) crime rate and anti social behaviour: what's the point to open a shop if no one dare to come out after 6pm (except some regions in zone1) 3) super long term tenency: I asked around and found out it starts from 5 years, and 15 years with 6 year break clause is not unusual. So let say if the business doesn't go well, it's a gaurantee bankrupt waiting ahead. 4) minimum wage: let's be real, 11.5(min wage) * 8(hours) * 25(working days) *12 = 27.6k while average income in UK is 32k, the gap is not rewardful enough to take such a risk. Especially if It is a small business. 5) VAT+business rate: only a small amount of business/investment can merely earn more than 20%, while VAT+business rate earn more from you riskfree.

[@m.a.farrokhzad1962]

What's good then?

[@MrKiar1611]

​@@m.a.farrokhzad1962 restaurant/bar/pub/cafe/takeaway shop/grocery store will stay, nail/hair salon can survive (beyond zone 2-3) retail is pretty much dead, except some luxury stores for watch/jewelery/bags/cloth. Gambling is blooming tho. Also, I would say nursing house can be a good business if considering the average age in UK is rising yearly. Shady kitchen is also a thing beucase of food delivery. actually most of the business can remain as good but there is no room for errors anymore, only big corp is able to take the risk.

[@TigerBoyX15]

If you can't afford to pay people a decent Liveable Wage ..then go elsewhere...The People will not be a Slave to the likes of you...infact..go away

[@TigerBoyX15]

The days of Chancers like You luv .are over..Pizz Off..

[@MrKiar1611]

@@TigerBoyX15 why so much hate, is it because I know how to spell?

[@peterc.1618]

A lot of closures are due to online shopping and working from home. We don't order cups of coffee online but if people don't go to shops and office staff don't come into the office, the coffee shops in those areas will get significantly fewer customers, which might force them to close. The knock-on effect is massive. I live in a small block of six flats and every day there are several online shopping deliveries. The courier companies and the Royal Mail are the ones who benefit; not only do they deliver the goods to people's homes but the next day those same people are queuing at the post office returning some of what they've ordered online.

[@miltonmiles6324]

While online shopping and deliveries do contribute to the demise of these shops, I don’t think that’s the whole story. In Kuala Lumpur where I live, online shopping and deliveries are massive yet shops are alive and well. It’s your rates that are killing you. VAT on Rent? That’s a first as a Malaysian.

Honestly this is understandable, where I live it's cheaper to order online than to get a bus into town and back. I know what I'm getting is at the best price and I know it's getting sent to me for certain. There's no incentive to go into town anymore, although one thing I do miss is food, something exotic like a Japanese meal that I can't do properly myself, but if I look at the cost compared to a pair of discounted leggings I need for dance class, well I'm fine with home cooking. Even if I had more money to throw about, food quality has gone down hill to the point I don't really trust food I haven't cooked myself due to the fact there's little footfall. Unfortunately even if I were to come by more money, I don't see myself exiting this mindset any time soon.

[@wulfsorenson8859]

Yeah but online shopping has been around for years. This massive wave of closures has been caused by lockdowns and crazy rent increases.

[@SCIFIguy64]

I visited from America and everything that was there were either tourist trap shops, chain shops, chain restaurants, coffee shops (nice but I could only justify visiting them once a day) and clubs, which I'm not really involved in that scene. Really felt like I was visiting a weird Disney park where you see the pretty buildings but can't enter without paying while every kiosk around is nickel and diming you. Sad thing is it just reminded me of wandering my home city where you could walk a block and see not one business, albeit without the comfort of home. The few authentic places I found and enjoyed just had that starbucked decor that spoiled the experience. One bar I had dinner at was great but just felt like an applebees here. Maybe it's just normal London and I'm imposing some sort of expectation as a tourist, but in the rural areas I certainly had a more genuine feel for things.

[@pitotzen2387]

When I was a boy, my Grandpa told me London was his favorite place he ever visited. This saddens me to see

[@AC-id5ow]

Moved to London in 2004. Felt like a big city. Exciting. Glamorous people. Opportunities galore. New shops popping up. Now the demographics have changed massively and I think it’s reflected in the city. Moved back north a year ago. It’s great up here. Lots of independent local businesses. Butchers selling local meet. Farm shops. Antique shops. Welcoming pubs. Friendly people you can relate to. Wouldn’t want to move to London now. Hasn’t the same feeling as before. Virgin megastore. Border book shop. All gone.

[@neurocidesakiwi]

Not enough English people, thats the real issue.

[@freedomisslavery6840]

Import the third world, become the third world. It's a universal fact.

[@jamesmason8436]

It's still all of those things ffs

[@VestaJ17]

@@jamesmason8436its nothing like 2004 what are you talking about

[@chrissafe3342]

Let's get real there are too many blacks and Muslims. London is Londonstan , islamic capital of Europe

[@captainharlock3998]

As a Canadian, I'm proud to call myself a Londoner as I've been living here for the last 4 years. I've seen the decline live, and fast, and it truly is sad to see this living, buzzing city fall into oblivion, not slowly, but at a heart stopping pace... Renting has become all but impossible, of course people have much less disposable income, that affect the economy tremendously... I'm a freelance artist and been doing well enough to afford rent in London, however that leaves me with almost nothing to enjoy an evening at the pub or even some shopping once in a while. It's all about making rent and bills... Even though I really acknowledge I am one of the lucky few artist that didn't have to re profile during the pandemic, it is still a dire way of life...

[@bambubombon]

rent and bills is the sad reality in Spain too. luckily our main cities are still alive abd bustling

[@captainharlock3998]

@@bambubombon I had a month long contract in Seville and I absolutely LOVED it! Spain is such a great country!

[@kkkkjjjj8113]

am spanish and live here is desaster, enslaved people that has so low salary its only going for payback government and rent house, government isnot doing anything for solve those problems, spanish people going outside to find new life

[@GingerPeacenik]

"You will own nothing and (we will) be happy"- tha Davos parasites warned us of their plans and are carrying them out, but the masses refuse to see it or care. They won't see what's right in front of them, or care about it, unless their TV shows it to them and tells them that they should care about it. Blackrock is the reason why you don't have funds for the pub. Unless we unite and push back, it'll only get worse.

[@bambubombon]

@@captainharlock3998 seville would be too hot for me... but most Spanish cities are still lively and uplifting

[@NatashaNewtonArt]

Thank you, thank you, THANK YOU for making this video and shining a light on this absolutely terrible situation. I agree with everything you've said. It's scary.

[@KingBarnaDuke]

My hometown in Wiltshire is suffering too. There used to be 3 large factories, 16 pubs in walking distance, 4 nightclubs, 4 restaurants. All gone in the last 15 years. Shuttered shops, giant supermarkets and some charity shops are all there is. They've been building more and more houses though! The town went from 30,000 to 56,000 in that time. But there is nothing there. It's a zombie, the weekend used to be a blast in the centre , but it's just empty now.

[@monicakristy4590]

Lived in Salisbury 2002 to 2004 was wanting to go back, Did pass in 2007. I can only imagine how it feels now walking round the main shops. I remember many talks in the late 90s early 2000s about the impact the online shopping was starting to have for the next decade to social life in general, then COVID was a final nail in the coffin some 20 years later for township communities. 😢 The end of a generation of the last 20years.

[@KingBarnaDuke]

@@TheRandomSlogger Wiltshire is still lovely! Just not many towns are anymore.

[@KingBarnaDuke]

@@monicakristy4590 @TheRandomSlogger I consider myself very lucky that experienced a time when town centres were busy with families out shopping, pubs were packed with people having lunch and chatting, and the nights were dancing, drinking, and taxi from 1 club to the next!! And we could AFFORD it!! Good times!

[@martinhale242]

I live close to Salisbury it's going down hill very time I have to go in more shops are boarded up very time

[@monicakristy4590]

@@KingBarnaDuke my god yes!!! Pubs clubs pubs, shops and travel. I had almost no money and I travel the world for 3 years. There was always a job on the ready, with or without experience. Now some 18 years later my daughter is the same age I was then, wants to do these things but can't find a job that can even pay enough to cover rent with some left over savings to be had. Robbing these young adults if their independence. I'm so happy I got to live it. I can only wish we could offer that to others in the future.

[@williamstringer6519]

I moved to London in 1960 and returned to my native Australia in 1998. In the early days the place was still recovering from the war, but during my time there was a huge surge in prosperity. It was vibrant with life and activity. I still hold happy memories of those days. It was profoundly depressing to watch this video. Also it wasn't improved by it being a very grey day.

[@RoyilBlue-vp1ut]

In Australia boarded up buildings are mostly to prevent vandalism. Poor london is suffering more than cost issues, it looks 3rd world, i wonder why. What's the point of a king if he just allows his country to collapse into a 3rd world grotto.

[@IndentureTrustee]

Australia is so much better than Uk I feel, but if we Aussies let too many muslims, indians, pakistanis, or blacks.. this is over for us, we should not repeat the same mistake..

[@tonyrandall3146]

@@IndentureTrustee but think of the competition driving down curry prices.

[@aCoolHHChannel]

Damn I wish I can come down under too!

[@IndentureTrustee]

@@tonyrandall3146 I am all for street pooping saar ,

[@michaeljohnson9421]

In Wales, Powys County Council offers a 100% discount on business rates for premises under (I think) 6,000 square feet, so small businesses pay nothing. It's kept town centres lively, without the empty premises you see elsewhere. If you have a stroll around Builth Wells, for example, you'll see quite a few quirky little craft shops and second-had shops which have opened up - the town is gradually becoming an arty-crafty-antiquey kind of place, much like Hay On Wye became a bookshop town. That might not be to everyone's taste, of course. An entire town of shops selling twee gifts might end up a bit naff, in a way. But it gives an out-of-the-way town which might otherwise fall into decline a new life. The interesting thing is that the arty-crafty trend is happening naturally, as similar businesses cluster together. But it all started because the 100% business rate discount makes it cheap enough to take a chance on a new idea. I say good luck to them all - and other councils please copy!

[@LilyGazou]

This is brilliant. A real solution.

[@sdrtcacgnrjrc]

Sounds good

[@davidowen2396]

Most towns in Powys are grim. Newtown, Llandrindod Wells, Welshpool...they may have fewer closed shops but still depressing places.

[@johncharleson8733]

Well, whatever you call this, it shows the city council to be active and practically interested in the welfare of it's people, stopgap measure or not. Great effort and applause from afar.

[@CherylFoster-vt4nu]

Loving your passion as you tell the story… keep on doing what you do 👍

[@johncubbidge2237]

I left London for Australia in the early 80's, and have been back every five years or so to see family and friends, and loved your video coverage, although it was shocking and depressing. I used to do pretty much the same walk as you did every time, so recognised which shops had gone. Apart from having to walk for miles to try to do some Christmas shopping, there won't be much to choose from, and more depressing is that people used to earn a wage from those shops once upon a time, and not so long ago. Excellent work my friend, and an eye opener for many as I can see from the five thousand comments before me. Sorry you had to let go of the dream of being a performer, so you are making do at a job in a country which is only making do with adequate shopping facilities, making do by juggling money due to inflation. We have some of those issues here but small business is dying out here too. Thank you for making the state of the nation so clear in a short walk, nobody talks about it here, but I know lots has changed since I was last there. I wish you good fortune, and may you find a way, to do more than survive in England 🇬🇧

[@MonsieurChapeau]

What a kind comment.

[@solcitizen9426]

It's actually so sad seeing Covent Garden like that. I remember being in my teens and visiting it often for all the quirky stores, but now it's a shell of what it used to be. I used to work on Denmark Street too in one of the guitar shops and recently took my partner there after watching a show at the theatre and was shocked that everything was gone.

[@666MaRius9991]

@@robertwatson9940 Why? Thats fuken weird.

[@acw7120]

Carnaby was made known as it was a place for poor students British made clothes in boutiques and rag trade shops. There were not just for "fashion" but for rope bags, cork platforms and itchy mohair jumpers. 2nd hand shops and Indian Markets were cheap like in Brighton for the students in the lanes. The whole Point of Covent Garden and Carnaby Street/Petticoat Lane etc was it was not just for rich people but ALL people. The council rates seem almost bloodsucking.

[@ZadenZane]

I'm fed up of having to buy online sight unseen, no opportunity to examine the merchandise. Even the big e-commerce sites don't photograph products from all angles or show the back of boxes where most of the basic but important product information is given.

[@MariaLopez-hc2nm]

Same I worked near Neil's yard. So I know exactly what you mean

[@carylgibbs6094]

This might be the saddest video I’ve EVER seen. I love London and although I haven’t been able to spend as much time there since 2019, I had no idea it was that bad! My heart breaks for the City and this country that it is this bad.

[@luvcakes2069]

All by design.

[@andrewfiles4184]

Thank Brexit for most of this issue…

[@Matty12333]

Brexit, socialist Tory government

[@terryansell6641]

So sad to see Covent Garden like that we had the most amazing Italian meal in that place only five years ago great video thanks for sharing from New Zealand

[@caroljones151]

I went to visit my daughter in London yesterday. The whole place was run down. We decided to take the tube up to Hampstead which is supposed to be a beautiful and wealthy area. We go out of the tube, wandered around for 10 minutes then left. It was run down, scruffy and nothing to do except charity shops. Headed to Wimbledon which seems to be thriving. Their town centre mall transformed and outdoor christmas markets and fun fair rides. I was very impressed with Wimbledon. For comparison I headed into central London several times over the last few months and it seems soulless.

[@nebod1556]

I adore charity shops ...

[@gauloise6442]

I wonder what Camden is like now, that was the place to be when I was a student in the 00s.

[@GiovanniLevoci]

What exactly is a tube?...

[@lymangreen5020]

The tube is the subway.

[@GiovanniLevoci]

@lymangreen5020 thanks...

[@GhislaineBeauce]

The boarded up shop on the Strand was a Boots, they've now moved across the street to a smaller shop. And the shop rents are also very high, I was working in a retail business for over a year, one of the shops was on Neal Street so you might have walked past it. Shops around kept opening and closing because the landlords kept putting the rents up. A smart landlord would put his rents down and fill all the shops he owns...

[@cjay2]

Not if the landlord is the bank or the rich.

[@sam-bd2ko]

I walked along The Stand recently and saw about 10 rough sleepers.

[@deja-view1017]

Heartbreaking to see. I lived in London in the late 70s/early 80s. I had one of the first craft stalls at the newly reopened Covent Garden Market, and worked in Newburgh St (just behind Carnaby St). I dont remember there being any empty stores for more than a couple of weeks while they were refurbished. There doesn't seem to be many people about either.

[@alanfontaine586]

You want to be happy you do not live here anymore,its a shithole

[@paullewis2413]

To be fair, I remember Covent Garden in the early 80’s and it was tacky and somewhat run down. Now it’s thriving as it’s become a tourist hot spot.

[@0KiteEatingTree0]

Just watched a vid on Covent Garden. The number of empty units and nearby shops is just saddening. Rates are far too high for small business..

[@einsam_aber_frei]

What I don’t understand is why these landlords prefer to let their space empty and boarded up instead of lowering the rent. What’s the reason behind that?

[@7Samadhi777]

@@einsam_aber_frei The Zionists running the world want to cement their control by destroying small businesses and the middle classes worldwide. Steer clear of their monopolies and chain stores and restaurants and patronize small businesses as far as you can to thwart their nefarious plans….

[@lauraholland347]

Business rates have been a huge issue for decades-everyone blames the internet for shops closing, but my family had a shop in the 70's which was forced to close because of high business rates-we tried to negotiate with the council but instead they let it be empty for 6 years before demolishing it for flats, it has been a process the internet is only part of the picture.

[@carrielamarr2845]

This video made me so sad. I live in the US now, but grew up in London and worked in the city of London throughout my twenties. I came home to London for a month in September and damn it was depressing. Indeed, my old hometown has no real high street to speak of, let alone the many 'to let' signs everywhere, even in the heart of London. A few things have happened to kill the High St, including stores in tourist areas of London, but primarily it is the "trifecta" of the pandemic, rising prices c/o inflation, and lower wages. The pandemic was really the final blow to many retailers because London thrives on its tourist industry. No tourists = no income. The Govt. at least made businesses exempt from paying business rates from April 2020 to June 2021 during the height of the pandemic, & then the Govt, despite its empty rhetoric of " backing the high streets,” hiked up the business rate and raised the standard multiplier, leaving these businesses no other option but to raise the prices of their goods and services to cover these inflated costs. The other issue is that when I lived in London, barely a third of my wages went to rent. I had no student debt, and therefore more disposable income to spend in these high street stores. I have to sigh at the salaries today that are not much more than I earned back in the 1990s. Wages have stagnated and not remotely kept up with inflation, while the cost of housing has risen to unsupportable levels. It's all one big vicious circle, and it makes me unspeakably sad because this problem is nationwide, and not just in London. Thanks for your videos on this topic. They're bloody brilliant.

[@TomokoMurakami]

Not sure where you live in America but have you been to any downtown areas of US cities such as San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, etc. and seen what is happening to ALL downtown areas? The Internet, Covid (ie you can work from home!) and democrat policies have killed all downtown areas. I'm an optimist and know that they'll be back though, albeit in a different form.

[@cjay2]

No it isn't. It has NOTHING to do with the "plan demik".

[@Threadbow]

People shopping online from covid days. Killed lot of business. You are right, the wages have stagnated so badly. I earned more in 90s than wages are now. That is a major problem. Thar and Thatcher sell off of housing. With capital going to central government not local. Times change

[@mellie9633]

Same here I live in Canada now but the first 35 years of my life in London. The 70's to 90's were great but now nothing.

[@BorsosGabor2023]

Tourists don't want to visit refugee camps.

[@0KiteEatingTree0]

I’m an ex Londoner. Was given a 40 year waiting list on a council property. I grew up in the run down, then affluent, now heading downhill area of Crouch End. Moved away from friends and family to live in the Midlands. The original cost of my parents house was £4000 in the 60’s Covid was bad. 2 decades of a sorry excuse for government hasn’t helped.

[@freedomisslavery6840]

Mass immigration is your answer. 10 million people added to the population in just over 20 years, 700k net immigration this year, 600k last year. That is the sole cause for the huge increase in demand for housing which has caused house prices and rent to explode and priced you out.

[@billysequins]

Anything else you want to moan about?

[@billysequins]

@@freedomisslavery6840 or that fact that Maggie flogged all the council houses in the Eighties and never bothered to build new ones

[@stellayates4227]

It is worth remembering that £4000 was a lot when you consider what earnings were in the 1960's. I owned homes in London some decades ago and they were only affordable on two full time salaries and a deposit as 100% mortgages were not available.

[@MariaLopez-hc2nm]

I bought my first flat in London SW19 for £12,000 near the tennis grounds in the 80's. Sold it for 40,000 in the 90's. Yes, huge changes have happened

[@tomayris3671]

Im a london bicycle courier, and honestly you hardly touched the surface. All those big corporate office buildings are maybe 20% occupancy. It is utterly crazy currently.

[@King-Kazma]

It isn’t just rates. Commercial property valuation is part based on rental yield. It assumes a certain rent, plus annual growth. If these shops are rented for less than their stated yield, they may lose more in valuation than just having it sit empty for years. The properties are probably not owned by a landlord in the traditional sense. Central London shops are likely owned by investment funds as part of a larger investment portfolio. Those funds in turn are owned in no small part by pension funds. There are mountains of zombie money in these funds that are managed very conservatively, and the lack of appetite for risk results in boarded up shops being sat on, instead of being rented affordably to kick off a cycle of regeneration and economic renewal.

[@Abraham_Tsfaye]

When I was in UK. I saw empty boarded up streets under a constant grey sky, litter everywhere. Homeless people sleeping in doorways. A women with cat whiskers makeup casually walking into Tesco with her pajamas. Opioid addicts out of their mind and women so drunk they urinated on the streets. It's a sad declined country.

[@margaretbgregory1524]

London is not a country, it’s a city in the UK

[@BSland]

Everywhere in the UK same crap

[@tomwilliams7391]

It feels like developing, rather than developed sometimes, I live in Plymouth and parts feel almost third world

[@SuperSbuk]

​@tomwilliams7391 that's because of the primitive 3rd world infestation that has migrated and overwhelmed the western world

[@redman6790]

@@margaretbgregory1524 To be fair, its essentially a city-state. London is where all the wealth, politics and concentration is. So any crisis in London is just merely exacerbated across the rest of the country.

[@toasted_heretic]

Awesome video dude, Well done. As Londoner who now lives in Sowerby Bridge that was a hard watch. I have spent many years in the west end of London working as a stand up comedian. I even ran a comedy club in Piccadilly. At that point there were absolutely no boarded up shops but I did witness a change in the type of businesses that operated there with a lot of the smaller quirkier businesses being forced out. London started to loses it's unique feel even then. But seeing all those shops closed like that is a shock. Once again, thanks for the video.

[@nyakwarObat]

Capitalism in a nut shell

[@Emppu_T.]

@@nyakwarObat i believe it's anti-competition laws, which results in corporatism. Not free market

[@timcastle1844]

It's very sad to witness the decline of England and London itself epitomises that decline. Boarded up shops put new business ventures off and the more that are closed the worse it becomes. Councils do not make so much money from empty shops and even less when an entire shopping area goes bust. As a young man in the 60's I remember all of central London was busy at every time of day and everyone had money to spend because wages were good and goods were affordable. There was also something else and it was called "Innovation and originality". People came from across the world to get ideas, to see art, fashion and listen to the music of bands that were unique. Being different was encouraged because it brought business with it but then the powers that be, government at all levels, landlords and their accountants got greedy. As prices rose creativity was stifled .

[@notbaltic280]

The reason these small businesses are closing, is because of the council taxes, aggressive taxes... The regulations that are imposed on businesses are punishing. Basically if you own your business you are considered a dirty capitalist. Not only are you financially attacked, but your premises will be attacked by shop lifters, graffiti artists the lot. In the UK you have no party representating enterprise.

[@thegreygeek3514]

I live in the States, and we have much the same going on here, in cities. Even capital cities, and it looks identical. Thanks for sharing! More people need to do this to let everyone know just what is happening! Thank you, Cheers!

[@uo9990]

Its a world wide phenomenon. In Greece is the same as well. When a small group of people said. You will own nothing, and you will be happy. We knew what was coming. And off course we were considered as conspiracy theorists. By the majority of people. Greed governance will continue till 2030. Worldwide Things will get worse. Now you know, Believe it or not, being accused as conspiracy theorist i don't even care. Just look around you, its a new era , the empire its collapsing, a new one is reborn Adopt or die. Btw i don't take drugs 😂

[@Lyrielonwind]

I lived in San Francisco and I have watched videos recordings in Finantial District on Friday at noon and it looked like a ghost city. 😢

[@jaspal201]

It's the zionists that control you

[@richardchiriboga4424]

Many cities in the US are the same.

[@Praksifey_Sofronin]

From Russia with wonderful love ❤

[@AB-kc3yc]

I am so pleased that I had the best of London, living and working there for 50 yrs. It was safe, exciting, full of energy, character, with an historic soul. Real London will always be a part of me.

[@nebod1556]

Real London is now ...real is what is current ...

[@noahhyde8769]

I wasn't even watching the boarded-up shops in this video so much as I was noticing the people, in London. So many, many non-indigenous living there, now. And don't think that that doesn't have a LOT to do with the MAJOR issues the UK is facing, now. It needs to be said, faced and addressed, folks.

[@LexxLarsD]

The biggest lie is if you’re tired of London, your tired of life . Absolute crock of Shiite . I hate the place .

[@raywilson3166]

@@nebod1556 no it has been taken over by too many people who don't share British values

[@nebod1556]

@@raywilson3166 Tell me some British values? (real is what is now agree or not agree and it is not going to change in future ...)...So British values?

[@Human-lg8hb]

I’m a born and raised Londoner. I think London is just a transitional city, people come here to make money and leave, no one wants to stay here. When the business either makes it or fails they leave because it’s better to run a business not in London. Everyone I know wants to get out, it’s just gone downhill with ULEZ, extremely high public transport prices, and it’s hard to get a decent job. I also run my own business but it’s online, no way will I ever make it physically in London that would be a very bad financial decision. The only people that want to stay in London are outsiders that are drawn into the idea of living in a big city but most Londoners want out, because life can be so much better elsewhere, but we can’t move out yet.

[@2202issac]

I lived in Acton W3 from 87 to 98 ….go back regularly…. Breaks my heart to see the decline …Great informative video 👍

[@richardfox4803]

I spent a lot of time in Covent Garden and Soho over the past 40 years and I've never seen it in that state. I saw it post-2008, the early 90s recession and even the early Thatcher years and all of them where no where near that level of devastation. The Tea House has gone ! I've bought some much tea and oriental ceramics there. It used to be the only place you could get Japanese Tea ware in the country at one time.

[@wellwell7950]

Yep seems to have a common thread the Tories. As you say post 2008 it was much, much better than this and then austerity came in, property building slowed and wages were squeezed.

[@beebeelicious]

I loved the Tea House 😢

[@eattherich9215]

Soho became a casualty of the big brands takeover. Once they started to move into the area, rents rocketed and a lot of businesses couldn't pay the new rents. Hotels and "luxury" flats have also made an appearance which saw the loss of retail premises.

[@F--B]

@@wellwell7950 the common thread is technological innovation. The younger generation aren't bothered about shopping in meatspace. What we're seeing here is a transitional phase. Cities are in the process of working out how to adapt to the new reality.

[@marktyler3381]

@@wellwell7950 Don't be a fool. Tories and Labour are now two cheeks if the same arse because....they don't work for us.

[@SnowyAspenHills]

Live in the suburbs of North London and our local shopping mall has suffered many closures. I don’t go into central London much except for work but I was shocked to see so many shops and cafés have gone. One would need to turn over thousands a week to make any business work with those massive rates.

[@curtismaize]

Man I'd love to see a video just like this but talking to more of the business owners who are still present so we can get a true understanding of the struggles they're going through and also different persepctives. The guy you was talking to in the video was great because of this.

[@sugipulaboule9]

You DONT need to talk to anyone, this is planned since long time ago, wake up. Pay CASH Everywhere you go, NO kard or phone payment whatsoever people, ditch the phones and JUST SAY NOOO. You see me ???

[@gregadams6827]

Edina Monsoon and Patsy Stone would be shocked, so would Saffy. Seriously, I have been to London many times and shocked and saddened to what has happened to our beloved London. Thanks for a great video, Greg Adams, Springfield, Louisiana, USA.

[@bbgunn917]

Did anyone else (who knew the area as it was last century) get the eerie sensation that the buildings have changed beyond belief? All the old warehouses in Covent Garden made over to look the same, flat-fronted rows of plate glass and RSJ framing that could be literally inside the metaverse. For a second I wondered if you were playing around with an AI background or something because it all looked so samey, unreal, even on Oxford Street- a digital construction. We're being pulled into a disaster and not enough of us seem to care.

[@aum82]

😮

[@matthewwilliams3827]

People are either oblivious or just don’t give a flying f.

[@SparrowHills08]

Noticed this on my trips to Amsterdam, LA and Moscow, rapid changes in the last 20 years in the form of removing colour and anything "unnecessary"; minimalism is their aim. If you want a real shock, go to Google Street View, you can compare street images from 2008 to now. We've let it become so soulless.

[@Alanwcum]

I used to enjoy walking around the flower market in Covent Garden on a Sunday, Sadly , it has long gone.

[@mrmrsmarshall9110]

I grew up in London, born in the 60s, a kid in the 70s, teenager in the 80s, a mum and wife in the 90s, left and moved to Devon 2000. I feel I was hounded out, I lived in South London. Peckham, Camberwell, Dulwich and Croydon. Worked in the City and Belgravia, then Putney. Glad to see the back of it to be honest.

[@notaclue822]

It's not just happening in London, but it's particularly tragic that it's happening there, in such a special place known for its character.

[@piotrwojdelko1150]

an effect of degradation middle class

[@soavemusica]

People in trouble say "OMG", or "Jesus Christ" without meaning it. Things will not get better. EXODUS 20: 7 "Thou shalt not take the name of the LORD thy God in vain; for the LORD will not hold him guiltless that taketh his name in vain."

[@katharinabruns9480]

I studied in England in my youth and I know most of the places you showed, but I have never seen it like that. Back in the ages, the streets were full and the shop were open. It's really sad.

[@wookie2222]

The same thing happened in the 90s in the area where I lived in rural Germany. Today, there are still some stores open, but most of them have closed their doors forever and part of my cities historical centre was even demolitioned to make space for parking and for a bank (because seemingly they still are doing very well). It happened to my area, because in the 70s and 80s the local mine industry was shut down and people lost their jobs and there was no plan B for them. And it's the same with food vendors - most of them have little stands somewhere near big stores or in parking spaces and most sit down restaurants have gone.

[@mamajojoful]

I left London in 2006 for Aus and I cannot believe what I am seeing. We went to Covent Garden often as I had a friend working at the opera and before 2002 I had worked in Dean Street. Feel like crying really. Speechless.

[@williamcaldwell-smith3865]

same with aus I'm afraid and it's going to get a lot worse

[@nyakwarObat]

Covid effect

[@chico9805]

​@@nyakwarObatIt's not just "Covid" (i.e. the criminal lockdowns), it's how the entire economy has been run for the last 50 years.

[@nyakwarObat]

@@chico9805 capitalism

[@damianmarkland8543]

Australia is even worse!

[@kingbeastie]

I lived in London from 1995 until the summer of 1999, I had a great time but it was still really expensive then. I played in a few bands, the music scene was great, like you I visited Denmark St many times, there was a drum shop in the basement of a couple of the shops you showed, some are boarded up. I have visited almost all of those shops you showed. Back then Carnaby St felt a little bit touristy but was still exciting and fun if you like that sort of popular / music history, now it just feels so unbelievably corporate, any soul it had has gone. The exact same with Denmark St / Tin Pan Alley. The more the corporates get involved and try to pretend to be cool the more the heart, soul and life is sucked from everything that they touch. You can't help but think that the excessive business rates, taxes, VAT, etc is ultimately very short sighted by those in power - the less people have in their pocket to spend the worse businesses perform, the worse the economy performs, the less they get in rent, leases, taxes, etc. The worse the economy is doing then the less people have good jobs, the less tax is paid, then more is needed in things like benefits, etc. It feels like a short sighted race to the bottom.

[@Discount-Stonks]

I’m back in London but only temporarily whilst I sort out my dad’s flat, however I don’t want to stay here any longer than I need to, even if the rent was cheaper. There’s something different about shopping in post-covid London that I could never quite put my finger on. More and more I find myself just passing through, and leaving frustrated. London is the emperor with no clothes. I supposedly have all these shops and restaurants at my fingertips and yet it’s seems really hard to find what I want, or ironically I have to travel 40 minutes across town even though I’ve already travelled to get into central London. Watching this video I can now understand. All these empty units are masquerading behind pretty artwork and only the soulless chains survive. It’s hard to find anything new and cool as I’m not certain it will survive more than 2 years, like everything else I used to love in London but no longer exists.

[@juliegale3863]

Covent Garden shocked me the most. Those small shops used to be so interesting and buzzing with people. It was hard to find a seat in a cafe for lunch. Very sad.

[@cliffarroyo9554]

London is more or less ground zero for what the 'elite' have planned for everywhere else... At the country level, the bellwether of Europe is Spain, at the metropolitan level it's London. Where they go is where the rest of the continent is headed....

[@sugipulaboule9]

,,, coNvid,, you should say.

[@Margriet101]

​@@juliegale3863Maby London could learn something from Berlin, to cater to modern consumer behavior

[@AnthonyBonesHarrisontalksalot]

Fantastic video! Thanks for posting this. My family moved from London to NYC in 1984 and it’s the same here. Last week I took a walk on Broadway from 14th street to Canal Street and it’s 50-60% boarded up. Haven’t seen it like this, ever. And let’s not pretend that this isn’t an owner class and a government taking money UP and out of circulation while we all struggle over the scraps. Deeply sad.

[@Helenamaedance]

There is another problem which definitely impacts on visiting London. The cost of travel to get to London and reliability of the trains makes it difficult to justify traveling to visit places like Covent Garden, soho, regent street etc… easier and cheaper to buy on line.

[@ennjaychannel]

blame The major of London Sadiq khan

[@DAN-e9j9j]

He was the man responsible for locking up tommy Robinson for nothing wasn't he?@@ennjaychannel

[@crimsonlightbinder]

wow, that's incredible. I was in covent garden back in 2016 and it was none if this, it was busy and bursting. London looks more and more like Detroit

[@maewild7805]

Also the icing on the cake for shops is the insane levels of shoplifting.

[@jeanlowe8879]

Hi went to Oxford street few years ago didn’t like it , shop are shutting down in all towns in England and shopping malls it’s sad 😞

[@scott4334]

I grew up here and I cannot wait to get out like most of my fellow Londoners. This place has become an unrecognisable hellhole.

[@davidrhodes5245]

Hellhole ??…..Nothing like overexaggerating eh.

[@scott4334]

@@davidrhodes5245 oh yeah last week in the space of 10 mins walking past a bloke overdosing on the floor in Brixton, watching a girl get her bag snatched, then walking down towards the station hearing every foreign language under the sun parked up as Ubereats cyclists and then having to walk over the junkies shooting up on the steps of Brixton station which now has daily security guards as of the last few weeks. 50% of the pubs and clubs have shut most replaced with flats. Yep lovely stuff mate, wake up you clueless div. Why have so many Londoners left?

[@leejames1792]

@@davidrhodes5245 ever heard of a figure of speech? He's right though, London is becoming a dump.

[@selenaannesmith1604]

​@davidrhodes5245 who's exaggerating it's a shithole and not London as it should be anymore

[@johfunut2529]

​@davidrhodes5245 he's completely right though. London is actually a shit hole now. He's bang on the money unfortunately.

[@sianlloyd2928]

I used to love walking around Covent garden as a welsh tourist in the 80's when I was a teenager and looking in the shops with amazement and enjoying the coffee shops and restaurants. This has made me so upset remembering how many great times I had there with my late boyfriend's family and going to the theatre, ballet and gigs it was a great time which will stay with me. 😢😊

[@devoncavan6502]

One of my friends restaurants was forced to close in central london due to the rent increase after covid. The rent was 150k, the landlord increased it to 200k a year. Ridiculous

[@Bamsebjorn5000]

Im from swden and in the 60s, there were a store for specific items. One store for milk and chese, another for meat and food and on. We need to go back to this.

[@ApriliaRacer14]

Very much so! Everything has been consolidated to a few large corporations that have a strangle hold. Most concerning (here in the United States) is what has happened to big agriculture…our food supply completely compromised.

[@Bamsebjorn5000]

@@ApriliaRacer14 Its just corporate greed, but I believe we need to go back to this, or we wont have any agriculture left.

[@beam3819]

Monopolization is the result of political regulations. 1% are trillionares and they rule all the wealth. How I miss the freedom of the 1960- 1980 before greedy people took over the west.

[@dyotoorion1835]

Since the 1990s I've been a customer of The Tea House cos my mom and I are speciality tea lovers. I went to Covent Garden just last week to visit the Tea House only to find it closed. :-( I had last shopped there earlier in 2023. It was a lovely shop with amazing tea, cups, pots and accessories. Feels like the end of an era. The Tea House shall be missed. Thanks for giving them a shout out in this video - an important record of the culture of London past. Cheers! :-)

[@neville132bbk]

There are a couple of such stores in Wellington 🇳🇿 in Willis St and corner of Manners St...central CBD.

[@misst.e.a.187]

I once worked for the lady who started it, the late Christina Smith, in the mid-80s

[@ajjanosi]

I visited London in the summer of 2017, this is such a dramatic change, I don't remember seeing a single shop boarded up, especially on the main streets. Super sad to see.

[@spongebobsquaretits]

Covid accelerated business closures

[@greatest7391]

@@spongebobsquaretits The Plandemic is working out a treat for the powers that be.

[@excel04]

The large scale shop closures started in the pandemic and haven't fully recovered. Granted they had their roots in earlier troubles like the 2008 crash. London was a ghost town during the pandemic. It was eerie walking around. The only traffic on the road were occasional Uber Eats drivers and people rollerblading. Some shops have actually returned so what you're seeing is an improvement. A lot of people have moved out of London (escalated in the pandemic - people wanted gardens in Lockdowns not deserted cities). Overall the vibe is different now. If everything is expensive, community is lacking and crime is much higher people will leave.

[@handlemonium]

Nearly the exact situation in NYC.😑

[@reucat24]

Brexit and the Pandemic, the perfect storm !

[@GingerPeacenik]

I live in Central Florida and don't have a TV. Plus, I got off social media before 2019, and had the virus early in 2020, so I had tuned out all the online insanity. Other than seeing some people wearing masks by choice, nothing much changed here because we chose not to do lockdowns (about the only good thing about our governor). When friends in the rest of the country called up and I wasn't alarmed about the virus (having already had it) they became furious with me, hung up, and never spoke to me again! Ditching my TV and Social media were some of the best choices I ever made. If Londoners had done the same, or had simply refused to shut down, it would *not* be disappearing today!

[@GingerPeacenik]

@@reucat24All by design.

[@kp4588]

The plandemic was just a way for the elites to kill any and all competition. And to make your life worse.

[@rabbitcaroline666]

So sad to look at this. I used to live in London but couldn`t afford the rent for my room anymore. Brighton doesn`t look much better nowadays.

[@Jacob-jo4px]

Pleasure to meet you and give you the insight! 🍻

[@stellamaxwell777]

As an American this level of tax is unseemly. Don’t understand how they expect to keep an economy going when it doesn’t even seem like you can take 50% home as profit. Rent, 50% tax, and VAT? Insanity

[@eightsprites]

I live in Sweden, payed high taxes all my life. Now I need a smaller operation, the queue for it is over a year. Really question what the tax was/is used for.

[@misst.e.a.187]

They don't want the economy to thrive, but to grind it down into a globalist mush

[@karmatraining]

The tax is probably a lot less than the rent you pay. They would have to sell $20 cups of tea to afford it long term.

[@starsandnightvision]

@@eightsprites Tax is used for leftoid hobbies.

[@MacXpert74]

@poiujnbvcxdswqBut this is about business rates and you are talking about owning private property. A completely different topic.

[@knitwearqueen]

I lived in London in 2019, and returned for a visit this year (2023), and was shocked at how much it had changed in that short space of time. Empty stores, and the streets were much more grimey than before. I felt sad to see the city in that state as I adore it there. I will return for another visit at some point, but will remember to go with fresh eyes, so that I am not saddened by what once was.

[@FransceneJK98]

Yea I was in London in 2000/2001 and it was full of life. Crazy how much it has changed

[@exploringwithjenn5314]

Regarding your question about that large shop being closed at the "Bedford Street" Bus Stop on The Strand. As far as I remember it has been a Superdrug. I used to drive the 176 Bus Route there between 2016 and 2019. Loads of nice memories strolling in this area, from the Embankment to Trafalgar Square, Leicester Square, Piccadilly Circus etc. What I see there now in your video, it's shocking 😮

[@kaischmidt730]

I used to love traveling to London for all its quirky little shops, excellent quality cuisine at relatively affordable prices from all over the world (except from England, haha), and the myriad of pubs all over the place. Sad to see that all gone 😢

[@theberlintoker]

I keep saying, I'm going to visit London. After watching this video...2nd & 3rd thoughts have crept in. Someplace else then. "quirky little shops" so sweet.

[@Praksifey_Sofronin]

​ Quirqly little shops 🤗👍

[@Praksifey_Sofronin]

​@@theberlintokerwhere quirky little shops? 🤗👍

[@Praksifey_Sofronin]

From Russia with wonderful love ❤

[@billysequins]

There's still millions of pubs in London what are you on about

[@spiders-tours]

I'm not overly surprised. Apart from some notable areas, London is actually quite poor and has a lot of poverty. Most visitors to the streets you visited (unless there the specialist ones) don't really want to buy anything except consumables. The rest of us will stay at home or shop locally. Local authorities need to be fined should a building be unused for a time and the rates are bought down as a result. It's a desperate situation for all of us.

[@oneofakindbijouxkunst]

But it's those who are the ones who make the fines who you want to be fined I guess. The visitors themselves can contribute to the problem wanting to buy nothing but consumables limiting the local economy.

[@spiders-tours]

@@oneofakindbijouxkunst The days of Londoners coming into town to buy stuff has long gone, prices are too expensive. So yes if a council fails to get a building used within a reasonable amount of time and they've not reduced business rates - yes they get fined. Probably by the amount of business rate per month. Either change the property to residential use or make it affordable for businesses. 100s of out of use properties is unacceptable.

[@Red5x5x5]

As well as all the financial pressures that you mentioned (great job by the way) there's also the pressure on the landlords/owner-occupiers to sell up. The sheer value of property and its reasonably steady increase in value, means that it is becoming more and more tempting to cash out. What's happening is that wealth management company's and foreign investment trusts are buying up everything they can, and then redeveloping it to add more flats. You'll have noticed that a lot of the empty units you saw were brand new or recently refurbished, and for some big landlords, they aren't even trying to let out their units, because they don't want the hassle: Their business model is to buy, redevelop or modernise, sit on the empty building for a few years, then sell it on at a profit. Pressure to sell to developers drives gentrification, and it's killing all our towns and cities, because we're losing all the features that make our owns areas unique. Once there's nothing to do in London but sit in your flat and order stuff off the Internet, what's the point in living there as opposed to anywhere else?

[@opalfishsparklequasar8663]

It's ghastly, it's by design, & it's global.

[@ls.c.5682]

Yep. I ranted elsewhere in this comment section about how the central London music scene around Tottenham Court Road / Denmark Street is dead - now you have to go out to New Cross or Dalston and similar places to catch gigs but it won't be long until those places get their character changed beyond recognition too

[@theberlintoker]

The more I scroll down and read the comments, the more I want to stay in Germany. #justsaying

[@lecaprice2572]

“Developers” have destroyed the architectural character with excessively dense and dehumanizing buildings.

[@cliffwheeler7357]

Glad to see Regent Sound guitar shop in Denmark Street appears to be still open. I purchased my Fender Strat there thirty odd years ago. What is going on in Denmark Street with all that scaffolding, it looks such a mess.