What is the average cost of living in London?

London is nuts. Absolutely nuts. Can you live there on a wage of circa £20-22k? Sure, you can try. But you'll certainly be sharing with other people, and probably be either: living in a hovel living in a decent place that just-so-happens to be owned by some sort of eccentric who doesn't recognise the value of their property or likes to keep prices low for some unknown reason - in which case, befriend that person and try to worm your way onto their will living off some sort of trust fund or help from your parents hardly ever going out to buy over-priced drinks and eat over-priced meals unless someone else is paying/subsidising your costs Are you in a relationship, with no dependents? If you're happy to split bills down the middle you'll be able to live pretty well on two wages totaling approx £40-45k. You might need to share a 2-bed flat with someone else, or you'll likely be looking at a 1-bed/studio that might not be of an excellent standard, but you'll have a bit of cash left over at the end of the month to enjoy yourselves. Holidays might be a stretch, though, and if that relationship ever develops to the point that you want children, you'll have to have a think about your future. Why? You'll struggle if you're a one-wage family, and childcare costs are obscene. £35k will barely be enough to sustain you if you want a place of your own, food on the table, a roof over your head, and a bedroom for the baby to move into after 6 months - certainly if you're living in most places in Zones 1-2, pushing Zone 3. You almost definitely won't have a garden any time soon, and if you have any intention of saving up for a deposit to buy a house one day... well, you'd better cancel those plans. Do you want to live within walking distance of where you work? Well, you'd better hope your office is somewhere awful, because living in Zone 1 is next to impossible unless you're rich. Travel costs are going up every year. They have done every year for the last 6 or 7. They will likely continue to do so, certainly relative to inflation (even if prices freeze, your wage probably won't be increasing at the same rate). It's all relative, of course, as other answers have suggested. What is a valuable expense to one person is not to another. But it all adds up very quickly and the sad truth of it is that increased gentrification, property speculation, property investment on behalf of those who will not actually use the property, and lack of rent control means that living in London is increasingly becoming something that those on an average-to-decent wage simply won't be able to do without making pretty big compromises. What's the alternative? Well, you could live outside London and commute in. You'll get a bit more for your money, but again, there are so many factors at play here that it's hard to give a decent answer. For maximum benefit you need your place of work to be close to a major transport hub (Kings Cross, Waterloo, Paddington etc) so you don't need to use public transport to get to work once you arrive in the city. At the other end, you also want to be able to walk to your local train station so you don't have to pay car parking charges. But then you need to think about how long you want to spend on a train every day, as well as how much getting that train will cost - these prices are also rising dramatically, so while moving out of London might get you a house with a garden at a decent price, your commute might be longer and the additional travel costs might mean you're spending more than you would have done if you'd stayed in a fourth-floor flat in London. In that situation it comes down to a quality of life argument, more than anything. You might be able to gather that a lot of this comes from personal experience. I now live outside London, and work outside London. Staying in the city wasn't sustainable for us, and won't be for many in the near future. A sad state of affairs, but one I don't expect to improve any time soon. By way of example: we moved out of a two-bed flat in London (myself + wife + baby) last year. After maternity pay stopped, there was no way we could actually live a decent life on one wage. Could we survive? Sure. But that's not too nice. Now, we (myself + wife + baby-now-toddler + soon-to-arrive-baby-two) live in a three-bed house about 50 miles north of London. We have a garden. We have a car, and we can afford to pop petrol in the tank. We are paying down debt. I could choose to continue to commute into London on the train, if necessary, but that would be 3hrs train commuting per day at a cost of £600 a month vs 2hrs car commuting per day at a cost of £300 per month. We aren't just surviving anymore. We're living. I'm not anti-London. I loved it. I still love it. London is my beloved firstborn child who has turned from a delightful kid full of wonder and splendour and opportunity into a lazy arsehole happy to sit back, do nothing, care little about others, letting the cash flow in. I love London, but am so very disappointed in it, the little prick.

Cost of living is very expensive in the UK and particularly in London. Apart from high cost of housing, prices of petrol, food, utilities, and other basic necessities are also very high. A one-bedroom apartment on rent in a central location, you can expect the prices to start at GBP 1,500 per month and a three-bedroom apartment will cost you an average of GBP 2,800. Recommended URLs: http://www.ratedapartments.com/london/all-short-term-lets.html You can check above website to check cost of Apartments.If you live and travel between Zones 1 and 2, the expenses will be around GBP 124.50 per month and GBP 1,296 annually. However, never miss a chance to experience the best that London has to offer whatever is your budget.Check out below recommended blog for more details about cost of Living in London:http://www.journeyonearth.com/cost-of-living-in-london

High. Rent is getting ridiculous (£1,000 per month is becoming normal for a flat share in a nice location and think more than this if you want your own place). A pint of beer (568ml) costs upwards of £5. However, is it a wonderful city with amazing parks, cultural attractions, history and interestingly named streets.

A few variables only you can decide, but here's my expenditure: 4bed Shared house, sharing an ensuite room (oh-lala!) of sufficient size with my girlfriend: £650p/m that includes bills and yes that is each! The house is situated in the popular area of clapham. Others in the house pay around 750-850 for their small-medium double rooms. I spend about £100p/m on food. We have a lidl nearby which helps save a lot. That excludes food I buy at work which can cost £3-5 p/d. It also excludes takeaways which may ne £20-40 a month depending how lazy i've been. £125p/m on a zone 1-2 travel card. I kept my i5 instead of upgrading to the i6 so my phone bill is £15-20p/m!! Uber: £30p/m And then you have the cost of enjoying London which is completely up to you but dont be fooled into thinking you won't, it is the land of temptation! If i'm out I will spend about £5-10 p/h on average. Salary wise you can probably make your own assumptions based on the above but ultimately its down to your personal expenditure and situation.

No matter what your income, you can find anecdotes of people at all salaries who live well within their means, and those who struggle. The average national salary is approximately £25,000 and at this level you'd find yourself sharing a home with other renters in inner or outer London suburbs, perhaps preparing your own meals instead of eating out.