Artist evicted by London landlord cuts rent by commuting from Argentina | Hacker News Reader

Artist evicted by London landlord cuts rent by commuting from Argentina

theguardian.com

31 pointsprmph21 comments

> 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.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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

I don't think he denied that.

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?

Moving home as in moving home, not moving back home

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

It is, yes. You're moving (your) home, it's just what everybody says. Just as dropping 'on' from "let's meet Monday" equally baffles Brits.

I guess? Is your question “do different countries have different ways of speaking?”

The UK uses both, this one is more explicit/formal, although it does seem a bit redundant.

No I actually understand the concept that other countries have different ways of speaking and am instead asking if this is a specific instance of such a difference.

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.

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

Illustrating the absurd housing situation doesnt necessitate he be pitied.

...and massively increases his carbon footprint

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