The idea of living in the UK is looking even more attractive to foreigners as a slide in the value of the pound pushes London down the ranking of the most expensive cities in the world.
London: weak pound makes the city more affordable. Picture: Patrick Mayon
For years, London has maintained a spot somewhere in the top ten most expensive cities in the world.
Last year, the Price and Earnings study conducted by Swiss bank UBS ranked London as the 3rd most expensive city in the world.
This year, the city plummeted to the 21st spot and has fallen below New York for the first time in seven years.
According to the Swiss investment bank’s research, the slide in the value of the GBP to around 1.40 against the USD caused a sudden drop in the price of living in London.
But a TripAdvisor poll of more than two thousand travelers voted London as Europe’s most expensive city. This was despite UBS results and figures from the Hotel Price Index revealing accommodation prices in London are down 12 percent on 2008.
Although UBS’s survey reveals a drop in the cost of living in London, the UK came in with the most expensive rail travel. It was found that commuters pay double the fare charged in other Western European cities.
On top of that, as reported in the Telegraph, Daniel Kalt, head of economic research at UBS said: “While prices in London have come down, rents are still high despite the collapse of the property market.”
Last week, the GBP rebounded to 1.65 against the USD. UBS predicts that if the pound were to reach around 1.70, London would move back up the rankings to become the fifth most expensive city.
Survival Tip: Don’t pack your bags just yet….it only means London is cheaper not cheap!
London City picture from Flickr
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