It’s official, London is the UK’s most unaffordable city to live in

Coming as a surprise to absolutely nobody on the entire planet – or at least, those who have visited London at least once in the last couple of years – London has been officially revealed as the most unaffordable city in the UK. Get ready to start searching Rightmove for spots in the north east…

The research comes after global payment service takepaymentsanalysed 34 major UK cities, using 16 different factors to determine the priciest postcodes to live in. The affordability factors looked at everything from the big hitters like public transport and property to pints and petrol, also factoring in average salaries. The aim was to highlight the difference in affordability across the UK, and help businesses understand where costs may be squeezing. You know, other than everywhere.

Each city was given an affordability score based on its ranking within each of the 16 categories. As much as we’d love to say there were some surprises, there really, really weren’t…

The big smoke is home to big bucks, ranking as the most unaffordable city of them all (yup, definitely starting to sound like some kind of modern fairy tale where London is the baddie), with a scarily low score of 3.12 (out of 10). Whilst the capital had the highest annual wages, it also ranked the highest for property. And everything else, come to that.

London’s average property price is £516,710, with rental prices also being equally horrific, costing the average Joe just under £2k per month. In comparison with the rest of the UK, that’s four times more expensive than the most affordable city, which, according to the research, was Middlesbrough.

If you’ve ever felt like just existing in the capital is pretty (aka cripplingly) expensive, then you’re not making things up, with London’s living costs like coffee, pints, going out, and gym memberships costing far more than the rest of the UK. Turns out, all the culture – art, pubs, bars, restaurants, theatre, to name a few, don’t come cheap.

If you’re thinking this is a sign to up sticks and head to the coast or a different city, then don’t get too ahead of yourself, as Brighton and Bristol were right behind in second and third place, respectively. Whilst Middlesbrough topped the list in terms of affordability (getting 6.51 out of 10), Sunderland, Newcastle, Lisburn, Aberdeen, Norwich, and Glasgow also all made the top 10 list.

If you fancy making yourself crazy and rethinking where you live, you can look at the full report survey here.

• The world’s 100 greatest cities just got named – and London didn’t even make the top 10…

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