Rent vs. Commute Costs: The Most Viable Options In and Around London

Posted on 19/01/2016

Living and working in London is an experience that cannot be described with words. The cosmopolitan vibe of the city will make you feel a citizen of the world. The possibilities for work and development are endless, especially for young professionals. One of the biggest challenges that people living in the capital or considering relocation to London face is finding accommodation.

Rents in London are among the most expensive in the world. The rent costs are growing in the last years, which makes the challenge of finding affordable and convenient lodging even more difficult. Usually people choose between living in a commuter town just outside London and living in the city.
In other words, the dilemma is whether to pay less for rent, but more for travel costs, or to pay more for rent and save from the costs of travelling. Other factors might also affect your decision, like the costs for removals in London etc. Cheap removals would be the perfect option, but relocation to destinations further from London might be pricier than you think.

What are the most viable options?
It is worth it to compare average costs for rent per month for a one-bed property in the most affordable area of London, the South East, as well as Greater London and East of England. The travel costs are also important – let’s sum up the costs and the commuting time to the city centre calculated from the main railway stations to the closest underground stations.

Hastings in London tops the list of most affordable districts in terms of rent. In this part of London, one-bedroom lodging costs around £420 per month. The annual rent is around £5050. Travel costs for one year are around £5272. When we sum up the two together, the result is £10312 in total costs for travelling and rent for people living in Hastings. If your first thought is, “let’s start searching for rentals and moving companies in the area,” you should consider another important factor for choosing the best accommodation – the time. The daily time for travelling to work and back home is more than 3 hours.

Another London area that is worth exploring for accommodation options is Bexley. The monthly costs for rent in the area are £700 while the annual travel costs are £2188. The total amount of travelling costs plus rent is £10588. If you are trying to save from spending too much on accommodation and travelling, living in Bexley is a good alternative to living in Hastings, because the average time for travelling to work per day is a bit over an hour. Time is money after all.

Commuter towns around London also offer a lot of possibilities for people looking for a nice place to stay located at a short distance away from the capital. The main advantage of living outside London is the more space you get for your money. A lot of families choose to rent accommodation in the closest commuter towns, like Havering because of the quieter ambience compared to the crowded life in London. Costs-wise the annual costs for travel and rent for people living in those towns are around £11412. Traveling time is almost two hours daily to the central parts of London.

There are many factors that determine what the best accommodation is. Rent and travel costs are the basic factors, but we should also add the time for travelling, the locations of schools and hospitals in the area, costs of man and van companies in London etc.