London’s been voted a Top 5 city in the world for remote working

Love it or loathe it, remote working is something the majority of us have had to get to grips with over the last 18 months. According to a new study, though, we’ve been in one of the best cities in the world for that office-free lifestyle. Who knew!?

Accommodation rental platform Nestpick has taken a look at what makes a city a prime place to work remotely from, building a criteria that comes in three parts. There’s cost and infrastructure – the cost of rent, the quality and cost of getting online, and how much income tax you’d have to hand over. Next is liveability, which includes the likes of cultural offerings, healthcare and how many days you’ll be able to spend soaking up the rays (or sheltering indoors from the rain). 

Finally, they also considered legislation and freedoms – or how attractive a city is to non-nationals looking for a change of scene while they get on the grind. That covers everything from tax incentives to general safety, basic human rights to minority inclusion. 

According to the study, London is the fifth best city in the world for remote working, scoring highly for healthcare, culture and leisure, gender and minor equality, and remote working infrastructure. It was let down, though, by just how pricey everything is – London’s cost of living had the worst score of the cities in the Top 10, while the cost of rent for a home office was only beaten by Singapore. 

Only one other UK city featured in the Top 10, with Glasgow ranking eighth. The chart was topped by Melbourne, who scored favourably in all categories except Covid-19 vaccination rate. Check out the full Top 10 below: 

1. Melbourne
2. Dubai 
3. Sydney
4. Tallinn
5. London
6. Tokyo
7. Singapore
8. Glasgow
9. Montreal
10. Berlin 

Soak up some of London’s boast-worthy culture at the world’s first-ever show of van Gogh self-portraits. 

Need somewhere to brighten up work meetings? Head to the rooftop of the Spice Girls hotel.