More than 5,000 Londoners moved to Brighton and Hove in just one year, according to an analysis of official figures.
The scale of the migration from London, fuelled in part by high house prices there, was set out in The Guardian newspaper today (Saturday 30 December).
Birmingham was the only place where a higher number of people settled after leaving the capital.
And the report said that London councils were also placing hundreds of homeless people in other areas.
The newspaper said: “The trend is causing social tensions with incomes branded DFLs – down from London – by locals who resent the impact on house prices when property-rich arrivals outbid each other.”
Hove MP Peter Kyle has spoken on the subject in the House of Commons.
The Guardian report quotes Oxford University professor Danny Dorling describing the damage done to communities by the scale of “internal immigration “.
He said: “Creating a sense of community again will take a long time and requires two or three generations to be able to stay in one place.
“The immigrants who have the greatest effect on life in England are internal immigrants, English-born affluent people with a large deposit.”
The report added: “The wider internal migration data reveals some notable well-worn longer migration routes.
“People leaving Hackney were more likely to head to Bristol than anywhere else while people leaving Kensington and Chelsea were most likely to end up in Oxford.
“And you are more likely to bump into a new DFL from Lambeth in Brighton than from any other London borough.”
The article, which was published online yesterday, can be read here.
Erm, why do you think these internal “immigrants” are moving from London then Poindexter Professor Brains? Because of the volume of external immigrants moving to London perhaps? Of course no-one dare speak the truth nowadays and we lay the blame on the indiginous population. Must be the so callex “white privelage” I have read about….as experienced by the tens of thousands of ethnic British that are homeless and being moved around from council to council from one place of poor accomodation to the next. This country is fecked and we have successive governments to thank. I will never vote again. Pointless.
You lost me at “ethnic British”.
You can spot them a mile off, strutting down western road doing the Lambeth walk.
We have the same issues here is Selsey West Sussex.
It all starts by the purchases of a static caravan by the sea.
Then they realise their houses are worth a fortune all be it purchased from the local council many years ago.
They sell up , buy for a quarter of the price here and have a nice nest egg to sit on.
The problem is , it’s messed up the structure of the village and people born here are unable to get onto the property ladder.
Hence with the new build going on a percentage has been set aside for local people.
We now call it little London here and the locals hate it , the heart and community has now gone from the village .
To many incomers destroy the balance , which is exactly what happening here .
Every single comments section is filled with ignorant and racist comments like this…its not immigration, chum. Its just not.
I agree entirely with the first responder. Around 40% of the population of London are foreign born and it is estimated that it will rise to 50% over the next 15 years.
Something’s got to give….
An ethnic group or ethnicity is a category of people who identify with each other based on similarities, such as common ancestral, language, social, cultural or national experiences.
I’m one of the 5,000. I can assure you that it’s because of three things: 1) house prices, 2) white flight – sad but true, where I lived changed to look like Mogadishu Airport departure lounge 3) remote working.
No big deposit, but happy to invest, employ people, play and spend here.
I am a Londoner who moved to West Sussex a few years ago, it was very different when we moved down because the mentality is different much calmer and theirs no hustle and bustle,Its also great for families, you can go to the seaside or the countryside. But the diversity of different cultures does not blend in as much as Londoners do,In the last few years there is change but some parts so west Sussex are still in working progress. Social housing is short and homelessness is a big issue. Shops start to close at 5pm and buses run slower after 6pm. Ethnic people does not determine the race, culture, sexuailty you are this is why places like London, Brighton and Hove are great because people are accepted for who they are. There is a much greater mixture in race, culture and social status now a days in England in general, I’m writing as a third generation of migration so does that mean we are not British too? Also London has always been a place of migration from the 16 or 1800s.
Then you know the answer – Go back to London. You’ve just contradicted yourself
As I always to to the DFLs. If its so good up there, then why are you down here, blowing your trumpet you from London.
There is nothing wrong with immigration per se however it has been used by successive governments to extreme in order to add to economic growth. They think that because the economy grows by mass it is good for the country when in fact it has resulted in us dropping down the earnings per head of population to below that of Ireland to 21st place in the world league tables. We have long gone way past the critical mass of human population that this country can comfortably support causing these sort of overcrowding issues and social problems. Until governments realise that they have created these racial tensions where there were none before, they have created the overcrowding, they have destroyed the green belt wildlife habitat by their relentless urban expansion and they have destroyed social cohesion by their dogged determination to pursue their miserable form of economic growth that benefits no one except for a few vested interests as illustrated in the article. It would be better to support poorer countries by paying more for their products that we consume in better trade deals than by denuding them of their young adults.
Perhaps its time for the Brighton and Hove City Council to start looking at job creation here in the city that doesn’t involve tourism. A skill mapping or census of commuters to/from London would enable the council to focus on which type of businesses to attract. For instance, there probably is enough UX and tech talent in B&H alone to justify a major player like Google or Facebook to open a satellite office here. Additionally, we need to get better at investing in start-ups to create a competing scene to London’s over-priced market.
This. The council seems to be obsessed with maintaining the poorly paid and insecure hospitality industry when we have a great digital sector which actually provides well paid and future proof jobs.
There has been movement from London to the South Coast for centuries- indeed the Prince Regent is a well known incomer. I too am a Londoner who has moved to Hove and I love the sea, the countryside and the slightly slower pace. I very much miss the racial diversity that London offers but B&H makes up for it with a different sort of diversity. Reading some of the racist and intolerant comments here makes me wonder why some Londoners wanted to come to such a tolerant city as Brighton & Hove . Shame on you!
I am a Londoner living here for nearly 2 years, part of the reason for coming here was the similar cultural diversity I was priveleged to grow up in. I tried living a village life and I found people narrow minded, prejudice and racist ( not all but most) ). I am grateful for being able to interact with anyone from any background, race or religion.
Personally, I think this is very very lazy journalism. I would love to see some original thinking on this site instead of the typical cut and paste stuff you see.
If you look at the population figures in Brighton and Hove after the last several years there has been an increase year on year but nothing dramatic and that could be to do with births, internal migration (from anywhere or even new influx of students) and yes immigration. The real problem is that successive local and central governments have failed to plan for this. Public services are shrinking, our transportation infrastructure is failing. Affordable housing is a complete joke. What we need is competent government both locally and centrally. The old ideologies are inept and redundant. Labour, Conservative and liberal, they don’t work.
We have been invaded by the “Dross of London” plain and simple. They have wrecked Brighton & Hove. It is true that we have always had a transient community, but we’ve never had an invasion of mammoth proportions before! It is now and has now altered the complexion of Brighton & Hove. We used to be an omni-accepting community and that seems to have been our downfall. Our kindness was mistaken for weakness by the “Londonites”! The kind of people who preach diversity yet practice conformity. Bit by bit, they have now transformed Brighton & Hove into being a poor imitation of the cr*p hole that they left – London! An over priced, over populated rude arrogant and angry metropolis with the new poor air quality to match London! Most locals now can’t even afford to live or even socialise in their own area of origin – Brighton & Hove. So you’ll perhaps excuse us for being acidly angry at the very people who have caused this – the Londonites or DFL’s!!! Previously Brighton & Hove was a carefree, extremely good value for money place with reasonably prices, including local property – then the “Dross of London” arrived in catastrophic numbers, together with their arrogance and rudeness. Many of the arrivals bought numerous properties and then pushed up the rents to extortionate levels that locals can’t afford. Here’s the message from the local community – Go Back to Bl**dy London and do us all a favour! Then Brighton & Hove can then go back to being what it once was – a nice place! Lots of love, a Brighton Local (a real one!!!)
Fair play to you mate!
I couldn’t agree more Troy. It’s soooo not Brighton anymore, they’ve pushed all our prices up, priced the people who used to live here out and are trying to make it London. Why would you try to change such a once fab place? There are no spit and sawdust bars anymore and with the arrival of snob venues like ‘The Ivy’ and the yuppie gin bars, Brighton is being sanitised by non locals who wouldn’t know the real Brighton if it hit them in the head. So sad. They are now also wrecking our diversity as there’s now too many of the same variety of people living here, London Toffs! They have priced out the most diverse people. Sadly even some of the gays are leaving now for Blackpool as it is much better value with better people. Why would you move to a place and immediately try to change it? Please give us back the real Brighton and send these strange rude people back to London. They are even on the Council now, one of them knocked on my door at the last election and turned out to be a London T*sser. They probably also wrecked London prior to leaving! Bring back the old value for money Brighton and send the Toffs home wherever that is?
Hi fellas , I’m born & raised third generation, 59 years old. I have much knowledge and facts stored away about this place. If I said I was born up the Work House and I schooled at Westlain Grammar school. The DFLs would not have a clue. It does make me laugh when they say, oh I moved here 20 years ago, therefore I know B&H really well. In sight of this have you noticed how the DFLs always like to labour the point they are from London, yet refer to themselves as Brightonians. It’s laughable, complete and utter bell ends they are. They are so stuck up their own arse.