Talented young people, namely university graduates, are discouraged from living in the South East and London due to high rent costs and high house prices. Some do weather it out and live in these areas, or they live with their parents and work locally, but increasingly graduates are moving to areas where living costs are lower and they can still receive the same pay and comparable quality of life that the South East offers. Few want to live a life where they are struggling to make ends meet or where they will never be able to afford a decent mortgage in their entire life.
Over time this is going to lead to a reduced supply of graduates in the South East and a plentiful supply in the North and Scotland, as well as in other cheaper regions such as Wales and the South West. Companies looking for fresh talent at a relatively low cost (compared to an experienced professional worker) can hire these graduates and benefit greatly from them.
This may lead to great advancements in these cheaper regions over the course of decades, while the South East may experience much slower improvement or even a reverse in quality as companies will have much higher expenditure per worker and therefore less money to invest.
Will this lead to the North/South divide weakening or vanishing over the course of say 50 years? Or will the South become reliant on factors such as immigration to ensure it maintains its supply of fresh skills?