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Comment by notauser | Hacker News Reader

There is definitely non-linear pricing in the London housing market as one example.

When I was last looking -

Studio apartments and one bed room apartments rented for similar amounts, and so did two beds and three beds.

But the price jump from one bed to two bed was much larger than any of the other jumps.

You can speculate on many reasons why this might be the case (smallest size apartment for a family in the city, smallest size you can split with a friend, smallest size with space for an office).

There are exceptions and I'm sure that more research time could help you find them.

But one of the points made convincingly in the artle is that if you are poor you don't have a lot of energy, time or gas-money to do that kind of research.

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I mean, we can talk about price jumps between bedroom counts if you want but I'm not sure it's very relevant to the article, which is saying there's only "stabbyville" and "safe" places given other fixed requirements. If you need a studio in London, they exist all through the price spectrum, area spectrum, and other dimensions. I suspect the 'jump' you see from one bed to two is that, on average, two beds are in nicer areas, or they are houses rather than flats, freehold rather than lease, etc. Bedroom count is correlated with other features that also increase the average price. But that doesn't mean there aren't two beds in cheaper areas too.

The typical tradeoff in London is price vs proximity to work/transport. For most people. Safety comes in at the very bottom end, but still you can live far out and commute. I'm not saying that's a pleasant experience, or that being poor is a pleasant experience in general, but the tradeoff and choice exists. If you have a job in central London that you'd commute to though, fact is you are already probably well off compared to most of the country. It's a bit like how student debt mostly affects the middle class. Same with expensive season tickets for the train.

> But the price jump from one bed to two bed was much larger than any of the other jumps.

The jump between sharing and a one-bed flat is certainly larger. A two-bed on two incomes is a pretty decent arrangement in London (if you're a couple for example); a one-bed on a single income is much much steeper.

> But the price jump from one bed to two bed was much larger than any of the other jumps.

That price jump isn't particularly surprising given London's one bed flats are competing against a vast number of individual rooms in shared properties rented out (which is regarded as a normal living arrangement in London, including for professionals, somewhat older people and to an extent couples). Obviously people who need an extra bedroom aren't really in that market, and the second bedroom is also easily [sub]let out separately.

It's a maximum of two unrelated households (a household can consist of couple or single person) in a property unless the landlord has an HMO (Housing of Multiple Occupation license).

So a 3+ bedroom property still houses a maximum of 2 couples.

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