Londoners are positive about the capital, but worry about jobs and homes

A recently published Ipsos poll for London Councils sheds light on the perspectives of Londoners as the capital fast approaches the Olympic Games. The main findings, described in several London Council news releases covering different topics, include the following:

• Londoners rate the capital as a good place to live by a margin of 8:1.
• Views are consistently positive with little difference by gender, age, ethnicity, or geography.
• There is though a sense that London is getting worse as a place to live (42%), double the proportion thinking it is getting better (19%).
• The cost of living and crime are the top two mentioned concerns about life in London – both mentioned spontaneously by 25%.
• Three-quarters want to stay living in the local area within 20 minutes walk, but 17% do not, rising to 22% of social tenants and 25% of those with children.
• A third say they would like to move to alternative accommodation but can’t afford to, and more than half of parents say that cost is a barrier.
• Half of all Londoners strongly disagree that there is enough housing in the capital for people to live in decent homes.
• Londoners also disagree that there are plenty of employment opportunities – by 3 to 1.
• By 2:1 they doubt the capital’s job market will improve over the next 12 months.
• Most report that the economic downturn has had little or no impact on their household over the past 3 years but 44% have felt the impact more strongly – social renters and BME communities are most likely to report having experienced a very or fairly big impact.

Downloads

• Download the full computer tables (PDF)

Technical note

• Interviews with representative sample of 954 adults aged 18+ across London’s 32 boroughs.
• Undertaken by telephone between 9-20 May.
• Data weighted to the known population profile.