Is it really as expensive to live in England as I hear it is??

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Helena

Â£1 = $2 or thereabouts, and there are 100 pence (a.k.a. p) in the pound.

There is a useful little news story that came out a few days ago about how much it costs to have an acceptable standard of living: http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7484555.stm

The cost of living here is higher than it is in the US - especially on things such as petrol - but this is largely offset by higher incomes. The average annual income is about Â£24,000 ($48,000) and the minimum hourly wage is Â£5.52 for those aged 22+, Â£4.60 for those aged 18-21 and Â£3.40 for anyone over school leaving age but under 18.

Just to give you an example of the cost of various items:
Petrol = Â£1.18 a litre
Chocolate = 50p a bar
Ready meal = Â£2-3 a meal
Bread = Â£1.20 a loaf
Milk = 42p a pint

However, one thing that will really shock you is house prices. However, there is now a housing market slowdown and prices are starting to drop. Nevertheless, the average UK house price in May was Â£218,112.

Entwined

It's more complicated than just the exchange rate (although, at the moment Â£1 is worth about $1.70).

In real terms, London is just far more expensive. Even when you translate comparative costs into the same currency, London is far more expensive than anywhere in the US or Canada, and although the rest of the UK is cheaper than London, to a foreigner it will not seem like much. Other world cities with similar or higher costs of living to/than London include Oslo, Stockholm, Geneva and Tokyo.

The reasons for the high cost of living compared with the US are many. The most obvious one is size and population density. The UK has about 1/5 the population of the US, but these are crammed into an area just 1/40 of the size. You can understand, therefore, why land would be much more expensive. Another reason is also quite simple: we pay more tax here in Britain than in the US. For someone visiting from the US, Britain will seem very expensive because of the strength of the pound and the fact that the UK economy is in slightly better shape. Also, as a side effect of having less land and less farm subsidies, we have to import far more food than the US, which pushes the price up.

There are various other reasons too, but I hope I've given you enough food for thought.

brother_in_magic

It's expensive but it's all relative. UK wages are generally higher in the UK than the US/Canada. You guys in the US also need to get health insurance,we don't. ( In canada the system is a bit more like ours but in some provinces you still have to pay a premium for coverage.) We have more' saving graces' such as council housing and benefits if we fall onto hard times.
The idea we pay the highest taxes is a myth. We do pay more than the US but only a few percentage more than Canada & a LOT less than a lot of other European countries,notably Belgium & the Scandinavian countries. (English people really do like to think they have it the worst though!)
You can really judge it by the currency as that could change rapidly--the dollar could suddenly spring up in value again for instance.

Stuart B

Certain things in the UK cost a lot more than the equivalent in the US, like petrol for example. But then we don't do as much driving as Americans do, so that's OK.

I like it here.

-KnifeGoesDown-

Um, I personally think it can be, it depends on the person. Food and gas prices have gone up recently though.

RIK_UK

i think petrol is now $12 a gallon. a pkt of cigarettes is $11.

i live in a tiny apartment, open plan....$200,000.

i could go on but i'm getting depressed :-)

legrandeginge

Yes it is!!!! I just got back from 2 weeks in Canada, and after taking into account the strong pound, (which gives you nearly twice as many dollars per pound) Canada is still a much much cheaper place to live. In Toronto, you can buy a huge 6 bedroom house by a beach, with a garden and ample parking for Â£300,000-Â£400,000. ($600,000-$800,000)....My flat in Crouch End, North London has 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, small balconies, no dining room, no storage and not even room for a tumble dryer and is Â£475,000 ($950,000).

We pay taxes on absolutely everything. Tax on every penny we earn and tax on every single item and service we purchase. Not to mention..Council Tax and Road tax!!!

Our flats and houses are tiny and extremely extremely expensive in direct comparison to other developed countries.

We hardly produce anything in this country anymore either, take a look at the country of origin of each thing you buy next time you are at the grocers..most of it will have been shipped or flown in from another country....the downside of this...the groceries are of poorer quality and yet cost more (not to mention damage to the environment).

We pay taxes and National Insurance for the police, who are incredibly understaffed and over stretched, schools, who are oversubscribed and the NHS (who i work for!) is slowly and sneakily being privatised...whole areas of the NHS now are commissioned out to private companies, and this is planned to increase, at some point in the future we will also lose the State Pension, which is why there is so much emphasis on occupational pension now.

20 years ago, a normal, average sized family could live on one income, to have a house, holidays, cars, and a mum that could (if she chose to) stay at home to look after her family....now the average family HAS to have both parents at work and an average of around Â£10,000 0f debt (excluding mortgages!!!!!!!)

Now you tell me if you think England is expensive?

Canuck

They don't call it "Rip Off Britain" for nothing. We pay more for our cars and food than the rest of Europe and the excuse is used that it's because we live on an island. Don't believe it. Prices of just about everything are artificially inflated and our tax is 17.5% on everything we buy.

Facile Princeps

Yes it is very expensive and we are the most heavily taxed country in Europe

girl-on-top

yeah with petrol prices and problems with housing i would stay there........it will be very difficult for you to come here for more than a holiday!

angel-eyes

I would STRONGLY advise staying where you are hun...the UK is sinking fast!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

COD4 Junkie

Its very roughly twice as expensive as USA, for example Â£8000 is very roughly $16000 (not exactly, but near) and this is the price of a very small brand new car in UK

bad bob

i don't know i live in Spain

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