Price levels in London
London is, without any question of doubt, one of the most popular and most highly visited cities in the entire world, seeing tourists flock there in their droves, from countries all over the globe. Great fame often drives the prices upwards, so in the case of London. The good news about London is that there is something for everyone and for wallets of various thicknesses.
There are upmarket locations, middle-class locations, popular tourist attractions, ethnic areas, fantastic locations for food and drink, great night life options, and much more. If you’ve never visited London before, one of the first things that you will notice, is just how expensive everything seems to be, especially compared with other parts of the UK. With some research and moving around, you can find economic choices as well. If you’re thinking of visiting London for the first time, or relocating there for some reason, here’s a brief breakdown of some of the relevant price levels in London, and what you can expect to pay.
Property – First and foremost, we’ll begin by looking at perhaps the most shocking price difference associated with London when compared with the rest of the UK, and that is property prices. Remember, people don’t just visit London for a day out, or a city break, sometimes people relocate to London for personal, or work-related reasons. Just to give you an idea of how different prices are regarding property in London, the average house price in London, bearing in mind that this is just your standard, run of the mill property, stands at £500,000, that’s half a million pounds. The average house price for the rest of the UK, stands at £286,000, so as you can see, that is a huge difference. Even rents are at “shocking” levels, and most people choose their lodgings far away from the city centre.
Food and drink – As far as food and drink goes, the prices really depend on where you shop, which in turn will influence heavily on just how much you spend. For example, the average loaf of bread and litre of milk comes in at a very respectable £1.88, which is pretty much the standard for the rest of the country. If you plan on dining out, an inexpensive, generally standard quality meal will cost around £15 per person. If you plan on a more formal dining experience, a three-course meal for two people will come in at roughly £50, although that doesn’t include drinks. A pint of beer is around £4, which is around 82p more expensive than a pint in the rest of the country.
Transportation – As London is so vast, you are going to need to arrange for transportation in order to take in the sights. The average taxi prices come in at £2.30 per KM, whereas a local transport one way ticket costs around £2.50. Therefore, the London public transport system is extremely popular both with Londoners and foreigners alike.
Accommodation – Hotel prices in London recently increased as well and the average standard hotel price per night today comes in at £127, which is more than 50% higher than hotel prices in the rest of the country. But you can find attractively priced rooms through various online hotel reservation platforms even in the middle of the city.