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What's London like now compared to pre-Covid?
I've been seeing so many people on social media, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube comments etc, talking about how amazing London was before 2020. It's like there's this collective nosta… Hey everyone,
I've been seeing so many people on social media, Twitter, TikTok, Reddit, YouTube comments etc, talking about how amazing London was before 2020. It's like there's this collective nostalgia for how things used to be, and honestly, I can't help but wonder what made it so special back then.
I didn't get to experience London or the UK until after the pandemic, so I feel like I missed out on this "golden era" people keep mentioning. Was it the energy? The events? The people? I'd love to know what it was about pre-Covid London that made it stand out to you.
Especially now, as we're about to enter 2025, I've been reflecting a lot on how things have changed and what makes London, even today, such a unique place to live. What do you think has shifted the most in the past few years?
If you've got any memories or stories about what life in London was like before 2020, I'd genuinely love to hear them. Looking forward to reading your replies!
i think the biggest difference is how much harder it is to just stumble into something cool. pre-covid you'd be wandering through hackney wick on a sunday and find a warehouse party or a free gallery opening just by following the noise. now everything's ticketed and booked weeks in advance, feels like you need a spreadsheet to have a spontaneous day out
honestly the biggest difference i notice is the rhythm of the city. pre-covid london had this relentless 24/7 hum, especially in zones 1-2. you could walk into a random pub in soho at 11pm on a tuesday and it'd still be buzzing with people who just "ended up there" after work. that spontaneity feels rarer now, partly cause hospitality hours got cut back and partly cause people's social batteries just changed
the other thing is how empty the tube used to feel outside rush hour. sounds mad but pre-2020 you could actually get a seat on the northern line at 6pm if you timed it right. now it's packed at all hours, feels like everyone's shifted their commute or just never really left the city centre. the energy's still there, just different, more concentrated somehow
also, and this is niche, but the food scene was wilder in terms of pop-ups and short term stuff. so many random supper clubs in dalston basements or rooftop grills in peckham that just appeared and vanished. that's still happening but the cost of rent and licensing has made it harder for the real scrappy stuff to survive. you used to find an incredible nepali momo stall in a car park in camden and it'd be gone three weeks later, that was part of the fun
yeah the nightlife thing is real but i think the bigger shift is how the office thing changed everything. pre-covid you'd have these random thursday nights where your whole team would just go to a pub near liverpool street and it'd turn into 2am karaoke somewhere. now everyone's hybrid so that "lets grab a drink after work" energy just died. people plan stuff weeks in advance instead of it happening organically
the other thing nobody mentions is how quiet the weekends got in zone 1. saturdays used to be mayhem around covent garden and
What are some innovative ways to anonymously compare rental prices in a city?
SpareRoom's "rooms wanted" ads are underrated for this. people post what they're currently paying alongside what they want next, so you can scrape a rough sense of going rates by postcode without anyone knowing you looked. it skews young and flatshare heavy tho, so not much use if you're after 2-beds in zone 2.
Another one is just the depozit or tenancy deposit scheme data. not public-facing, but your council's housing officer can tell you median rents from deposit registrations if you email them under FOI. takes weeks, but its proper anon and nobody clocks u.
Rightmove and Zoopla only show asking rents, which are often 10 to 15 percent above what a place actually goes for, so they're a poor benchmark. The trick I've used is the ONS Price Index of Private Rents, which breaks things down to borough level and is genuinely anonymous since it's aggregate data, no listing or account needed. For something more granular, the London Renters Union runs a rent reporting tool where you submit what you're paying with your postcode and it maps it against others nearby, though the coverage is patchy outside the inner boroughs.
the openrent "rent check" thing is decent for zones 3-4 where the unions tool barely reaches. also worth checking the london.gov.uk planning portal for new build applications, they list "affordable" and market rent figures per unit in the viability assessments, which is basically the developer telling the council what they expect to charge. bit of a faff to dig through but its public, anonymous & nobody knows ur looking
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