Could it be time for you to move out of London? We've run the numbers and worked out how much you could save by moving out of London to all regions of the UK, whether you're renting or a homeowner (both mortgage repayments and house prices). Check it out below.
“When a man is tired of London, he is tired of life; for there is in London all that life can afford.”
Perhaps in the 250 years since Samuel Johnson's famous quote things have changed a bit, with recent data on rental and house prices showing that perhaps many could indeed have a better life outside of London after all.
And with coronavirus supercharging the speed at which businesses can operate without an office, and employees working from anywhere, is London really worth it?
With the average rent in London coming in at a massive £1,556 per month (and that’s just the average; for a decent place, you’ll be looking at considerably more) – you could save a whopping £1,017 by moving to the North East. We’re talking Newcastle, Sunderland, Durham, Northumberland National Park, not just the middle of nowhere.
You could even move to Birmingham in the West Midlands and save £821 per month, or Manchester, in the North West and save £784 – almost 50% cheaper than London.
We’ve put together rent prices and savings across the whole of the UK below, could it be time to move out of London for renters?
Sticking with monthly expenses, even if you’ve managed to get a mortgage on an ‘affordable’ place in London, you could see your repayments drop quite considerably too if you were to move out across the UK.
With the average mortgage payment in London coming in at £2,104 – that’s £703 higher than the second most expensive area, the South East, places like Southampton, Bournemouth and Brighton. And a massive £1,530 more than the average mortgage in the North East.
You could even consider Wales and save £1,366 per month with average mortgage payments of £738.
Of course mortgage repayments are down to house prices, so let's get down to them. How much could you actually save and give yourself a nice big lump sum?
With average house prices in London coming in at £513,997, you could move anywhere in the UK and save at least £171,726. Quite a bit of pocket change.
Not only that, but if you’re renting and have been saving your pennies you might actually be able to afford to buy somewhere! Check out Scotland, with average house prices of ‘only’ £165,703, giving a saving of £348,294 if you were to move out from London.
It's a fairly staggering saving. It could be the difference between buying your own place, growing your financial security, starting a family, going on adventures, or holidays, or money to achieve your dreams. Is London really worth it, or is it time to take your laptop and move out?