Artist evicted by London landlord cuts rent by commuting from Argentina

https://www.theguardian.com/uk-news/2024/apr/19/artist-evicted-by-london-landlord-cuts-rent-by-commuting-from-argentina

by prmph • 2 years ago

31 21 2 years ago

Andy Leek, 38... has moved to Buenos Aires where the rents are several times cheaper and he travels back to the UK roughly every two months for work.

That's not exactly "commuting", is it.

DistractionRect• 2 years ago

Yeah, the title really misrepresents the situation. This is someone who doesn't need to live in London, and visits a London few times a year.

Waterluvian• 2 years ago

My 10 hour commute is ridiculous. I live in rural Canada where it’s cheap and visit the Boston HQ every few years…

coldtea• 2 years ago

Sounds like commuting to me: he has work to do in London, and he could have stayed and done it there, but he was forced by rising rents to live elsewhere and come back 5-6 times a year to do it.

It's just not a daily commute.

pavel_lishin2• 2 years ago

I used to work for a company headquartered in Austin, TX. About once a year, we would have a company all-hands, and I would fly in.

I would not consider that "commuting"?

Furthermore, Mr. Leek has a job in Buenos Aires - he's making a documentary.

I'm not saying there isn't a problem here. I'm just saying that he's not commuting to work if he's traveling once every two months.

lesuorac• 2 years ago

Commuting is just about traveling to work. If you travel a long distance they call you a super commuter [1].

[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Super_commuter

mc32• 2 years ago

I cannot feel sorry for someone who can afford commuting across a vast ocean. Now, sure rents are way to expensive for the working poor, but this guy isn't one of them. He could easily live in the Hebrides and live on the cheap.

The UK, and England especially, is dense, but they still have lots of immigration from Eastern Europe, the Caribbean, etc., that put pressures on the housing stock for native population. They need to tackle that.

andsoitis• 2 years ago

Plus, he only visits the office every other month. That’s not commuting.

pydry2• 2 years ago

Illustrating the absurd housing situation doesnt necessitate he be pitied.

jncfhnb3• 2 years ago

What does the graph showing the “share of london renters leaving the city when moving home” possibly indicate?

Given you are a renter that is moving to your old home, what is the probability that it is not in London?

orf2• 2 years ago

Moving home as in moving home, not moving back home

jncfhnb3• 2 years ago

Is that a British thing? Americans would just say “moving”. Moving home sounds odd.

beardyw• 2 years ago

There are huge swathes of the UK which are much cheaper to live in than a London. And he could commute to London on a bus. This is just self aggrandisement.

prmph• 2 years ago

But those areas probably don't have the energy of a large metropolis, do they?

Sounds like the artist wanted an affordable place to live that _also_ has the feel of a large city. For creative work, that could be important.

keiferski• 2 years ago

There are also dozens of cities in Europe connected to London via Ryanair / WizzAir that are cheaper and closer than BsAs.

pydry2• 2 years ago

I don't think he denied that.

Nextgrid• 2 years ago

If post-pandemic London wasn't depressing enough already, sure.

KennyBlanken• 2 years ago

...and massively increases his carbon footprint

Artist evicted by London landlord cuts rent by commuting from Argentina

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