London is one of the world’s most cramped, built-up, and densely-populated cities. Land in the central London area — pretty much any of the boroughs that are currently built, or at least the halves of them close to the Thames — is some of the most coveted and expensive anywhere on Earth, generally ranking in the top ten on such lists. As a result, most of the large parcels of land that once existed in the area have long since been either subdivided into much smaller plots, or purchased by sovereign governments, multinational corporations, and other organizations or people who have wealth well above the level accessible to PCs.

This means that what an American might think of as a rich person’s home — a sprawling, roomy house with a swimming pool, a paddock for horses, a tennis court, and at least a few acres of land — is not available in central London at all, even with Resources 6. In some of the most expensive and urbanized areas, Resources 6 will just about get you a detached single-family home with a small backyard, as opposed to the townhouses and apartments that the less-wealthy have to make do with. A low-Resources character in London can get by just fine — you don’t need to be wealthy to find a place to live. unless you want to live in the wealthiest areas, own a very large home, or both. (For a brief summary of the housing appropriate for different Resources levels, please see the Backgrounds page.)

Large estates and sprawling mansions are appropriate for parts of the English countryside, and, when we eventually reach the point of building out some of those areas, we’ll be reserving some space for players whose characters would have something like that. In the meantime, though, residences on this scale will need to be off-grid. You can, of course, still play a high-resources character as having a “country house” appropriate to their level of Resources — refer to it in play, take your friends there for a country house weekend using the RP rooms, and so on.

For parts of London that are in the “Inner Ring” of boroughs — this includes everything currently built with the exception of Hillingdon — please bear in mind that land will be at a premium. Houses will generally be built up rather than out, and even very rich characters will need to buy in an area lower than their Resources would normally permit if they want to have a yard big enough to play badminton in. As a rule of thumb, the closer you are to the Thames, the less you get for your money; the far southern parts of South London and the northern parts of North London are somewhat more forgiving (but less prestigious).

The main exception is, as mentioned, Hillingdon. Small farms and larger houses on a bit of land are somewhat more attainable here, especially in the northwest part of the borough. Of course, this isn’t a great place to live, since it’s right under the flight paths to and from Heathrow Airport — and it’s a historically low-income area where large houses are generally new builds rather than storied centuries-old estates — but it is an option.

The Building Guide has helpful information on how to build your character’s IC home and get it linked into the grid.