【A Complete Guide to Calculating Living Costs in the UK!】 |
Land varies quite a bit from city to city. If you choose to live in an international hub - like London, the cost of housing will definitely be expensive. In fact, land prices in London are almost comparable to that of Hong Kong. Knowing this, the cost of renting a place to stay is often the brunt of a UK immigrant’s living budget. However, outside of London, there are many options, with drastically lower rent! For instance, the average price of housing drops to only half of that of London if you choose to stay in Aberdeen, Glasgow, or Belfast!
This is another point of concern for most who plan to immigrate to the UK. There is no doubt that the cost of eating out in the UK is generally more expensive than that in Hong Kong, but the cost of buying your own ingredients and cooking is actually cheaper than that of Hong Kong! So the British envoy fee is actually not that bad.
As a point of reference, here are some general statistics regarding the average price of fresh produce in the UK:
Fruits:
Apples (bag of 6) - 1.5 pounds
Bananas (bunch of 6) - 90 pence
Potatoes (2kg) - 1 pound
Chinese cabbage - 1 pound
Tomatoes (bag of 8) - 1 pound
Garlic - 25 pence
Meats:
Beef (per kg) - 5 to 8 pounds
Pork (per kg) - 5 to 8 pounds
Chicken (whole) - 3 to 4 pounds
Eggs (carton of 18) - 0.8 pounds
Others:
Cooking oil (500ml) - 1 pound
Milk (2.2L) - 1.5 pounds
British transport expenses are also thrifty, but if you don't live in a big city, a car is still a must. The cost of buying a car is actually quite similar to Hong Kong, ranging from 10,000 to hundreds of thousands of Hong Kong dollars. Gasoline costs around 1.1 pounds per litre, which is approximately 30% cheaper than Hong Kong. Finally, you’d also have to account for insurance costs 200-800 pounds per year.
As for public transport, here’s a comprehensive list of general costs:
- One-way bus: 2.4 pounds
- Train one-way: 3.5 pounds
- Bus full-day: 4 pounds
- Train full-day: 6 - 7 pounds