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Revealed: the cheapest (and most expensive) places to live in the UK

A new ranking lists 32 UK cities according to the prices of stuff like groceries, public transport and restaurants

Written by
Henrietta Taylor
Contributing writer
Kingston Upon Hull, UK
Photograph: Shutterstock
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City living can be fun but boy is it expensive. Especially now, with inflation causing stuff to get much more expensive everywhere from the supermarket to the pub. Living in big, buzzy places ain’t as cheap as it used to be.

If you’re not ready to up sticks to the countryside just yet, perhaps switching to a cheaper city could be the answer. To help rank the most affordable cities in the country, data site Numbeo has taken into account a whole range of factors, from the price of groceries and public transport to the cost of eating out in restaurants. 

It should be noted, however, that the list doesn’t quite include every city in the country. Only 32 make the cut, whereas there are at least 76 officially-designated cities in the UK.

Unsurprisingly, coming up on the cheaper side of Numbeo’s list are cities found up north, with Kingston Upon Hull listed as the least expensive on the list. Hull is no stranger to affordability rankings – just last week, the city was named one of the cheapest places in UK for a pint. Hull was closely followed by Coventry and Leicester as the UK’s second- and third-cheapest cities. 

Meanwhile, there are no prizes for guessing which city took the top spot. London, of course, is the priciest place to live in the UK – and by a long way, too. Cambridge and Oxford aren’t much better, following up in second and third place respectively. 

Here are the five most expensive UK cities to live, according to Numbeo. 

  1. London
  2. Cambridge
  3. Oxford
  4. Guildford
  5. Brighton

And if the cost-of-living crisis is tempting you to move somewhere new, here are the five cheapest.  

  1. Kingston Upon Hull
  2. Coventry
  3. Leicester
  4. Birmingham
  5. Aberdeen 

You can find out more on the Numbeo official website here

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